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SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 




EFFIGIES S CATHARINA SENEN SI S, QVAM FICTQR 
INPARIETE ECCLESIA S DOMINICl DE SENTS 
DVM VIRGO EXTASIM PATIEB AT VR, C OT.OMBVS 
EXPRESSIT ANN MCCCLXVII 



SAINT CATHERINE 
OF SIENA 

A STUDY IN THE RELIGION, LITERATURE 

AND HISTORY OF THE FOURTEENTH 

CENTURY IN ITALY 



EDMUND G. GARDNER, M.A. 

Author of « Dante'* Ten Heavens,' * The Story of Florence/ 
' Dukes and Poet* in Ferrara, 1 ' The King of Court Poeti, 1 etc. 



Entrlamo ntlk easa del cognoscimento dt wi," 




MCMVII 



LONDON : J, M. DENT & CO, 

NEW YORK: E. P. BUTTON & CO. 



■set. //r -arr- 



'\\ f .:!251S03 



Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, 

bread street hill, e.c, and 

bungay, suffolk. 






To 
MY FRIEND 

MAUD F. JERROLD 



PREFACE 



In this book I have not attempted to write the conventional 
biography of a canonized saint, but a study in Italian history 
centred in the work and personality of one of the most wonderful 
women that have ever lived — the successor of Dante in the 
literature and religious thought of Italy, the connecting link 
between St Francis of Assisi and Fra Gtrolamo Savonarola in the 
strange pageant of the progress of the mystical chariot of the 
Spouse, which the divine poet saw in part on the banks of 
Lethe in the Earthly Paradise, While devoting my attention 
mainly to Catherine's own work and her influence upon the 
Italian politics of her age, I have endeavoured at the same time to 
make my book a picture of certain aspects, religious and political, 
of the fourteenth century in Italy— the epoch that immediately 
followed the times of Dante, the stormy period in the history of 
the Church of which Petrarca and Boccaccio witnessed the begin- 
nings. It may, indeed, be said that so much attention has been 
paid to Italian history of late years, and so many fresh sources of 
original information made accessible in every direction, that a new 
life of the woman who was the truest and most single-hearted 
patriot of her age seems not only permissible, but even—from the 
scientific point of view — necessary. In this undertaking, I have 
been greatly aided by the manuscripts still preserved of Catherine's 
letters, manuscripts full of unpublished matter which has hitherto 
been unaccountably neglected, having apparently escaped the 
notice of all her biographers and editors : matter which throws 
light upon every aspect of the Saint's genius, and has enabled me, 
at many points, to correct the hitherto accepted chronological 
order of her writings and the events in her life to which they 
refer. 

Our contemporary materials for the life of Catherine of Siena, 
apart from isolated documents and the general history of her 



VI! 



PREFACE 



times, are derived from five principal sources : the Vita or Legenda 
(known as the Legenda prolixa* or, in Italian, Leggenda maggiore) ; 
the Processus ; the Supplemenium ; the Legenda abbreviata {Leggenda 
minore % in Italian) ; and Catherine's own Letters. 

(i) In 1384, four years after the Saint's death, Fra Raimondo 
delle Vigne of Capua, who had been her third confessor and chief 
director, and was then master-general of the Dominicans, began 
his admirable history of her, the Vita by excellence, which, in 
one of his letters, he calls : Sanctae Matris Catharinae eximia 
Legenda. This was finished in 1395* Raimondo's Latin text was 
first published in 1553 at Cologne (an edition now of the utmost 
rarity), and has been re-edited by the Bollandists in the third 
volume of the Acta Sanctorum for April. An Italian version, 
begun by one of the Saint's secretaries, Neri di Landoccio 
Pagliaresi, and finished by a native of Piacenza, whose name is 
unknown, was printed at the Dominican convent of San Jacopo di 
Ripoli near Florence, by Fra Domenico da Pistoia and Fra Piero 
da Pisa, in 1477. Another edition, in which the second half of 
the translation is identical with that of the editioprinceps> while the 
first half (up to the middle of Part II, cap. x. par. 5 in Feed's 
version, or § 283 in the Acta Sanctorum) differs considerably, was 
printed at Milan in 1489 ; it is evidently the complete translation 
made by the anonymous scholar of Piacenza, at the bidding of 
Don Stefano Maconi. 1 Instead, however, of these, a compara- 
tively modern translation by the Canonico Bernardino Pecci, first 
published by Girolamo Gigli at Siena in 1707, may be said to 
hold the field. While relying mainly on the Latin text of the 
Legenda^ I have consulted the convenience of readers by giving 
references to the divisions of part, chapter, and paragraph in 
Peeci's version, the corresponding paragraphs in the Acta Sanctorum 
being indicated in brackets. Although French,, German, and 
Spanish translations appeared in the sixteenth century, Raimondo's 

1 Cf. F. Grottanelli, Introduction to the Lfggtndd mlnore, pp. ix,-xiv. f where, 
however* it has escaped his notice that these two editions do not contain the same 
translation. I hive m>t been able to fee the intermediate editions, Naples, 1478, 
and Milan, I488, respectively, 

viii 



PREFACE 



complete work has never been translated into English. The lyf 
of saint Katherin of Senis the blessid virgin, which Caxton printed, 
contains only certain portions of it, freely rendered, with con- 
siderable omissions. Says the translator in his preface : '* I leve of 
also poyntes of divynyte whiche passeth your understondyng and 
touche only maters that longeth to your lernying." The version 
by John Fenn, confessor to the English Augustinian nuns at 
Louvain, first published in 1609, is translated from the abridged 
Italian edition composed by the famous Dominican controversialist, 
Fra Ambrogio Catarino Politi of Siena, in the middle of the 
sixteenth century. 

(2) Second in date and in importance to the Legenda comes 
the Processus. The fact that, although she had not yet been 
canonized by the Church, the feast of "a certain person called and 
named the blessed Catherine of Siena " was being annually cele- 
brated in the Dominican convents and churches of Venice and 
elsewhere, and pictures of her were being painted for veneration 
in many places, led to complaints being made to Francesco Bembo, 
the Castello bishop of Venice. A sermon preached in SS, 
Giovanni e Paolo by a certain Fra Bartolommeo da Ferrara 
on the first Sunday of May, 141 1, led to him and Fra Tommaso 
di Antonio Nacct Caffarini, one of Catherine's earliest followers 
and most intimate associates, who was then a friar in that convent, 
being summoned before the Bishop ; and the famous Processus 
contestationum super sanctitate et doctrina heatae Catharinae de Senis 
was the result. This is a collection of testimonies and letters by 
Catherine's surviving followers, and others who had come under 
her influence, edited (so to speak) by Fra Tommaso Caffarini 
between 141 1 and 1413, with a few later additions. Complete 
manuscripts of this Process are preserved in the Biblioteca 
Comunale of Siena (MS. T. i. 3) and the Biblioteca Casanatense 
of Rome (MS. 2668, or XX. v. 10) ; the former dates from 
the fifteenth century (but is not, as sometimes stated, the ori- 
ginal), while the latter is a copy of it made in 17 10. Several 
of the more important contestations, including those of Fra 
Tommaso Caffarini himself, Fra Bartolommeo di Domenico, Don 

ix 



PREFACE 



Bartolonimeo da Ravenna, and Don Stefano di Corrado Maconi, 
were published by Martene and Durand (from a manuscript in 
the Grande Chartreuse), in the sixth volume of their Veterum 
Scriptorum et Mmumentarum amplissima Col/ectio. Three others of 
the least important had already been given In Mansi's Appendix to 
the fourth volume of Baluze's Miscellanea, The contestation of 
Stefano Maconi is practically the Epistola Domni Stephani de gestis 
et virtutibus S. Catharinae, to Fra Tommaso, given in its original 
by the Bollandists in the volume cited of the Acta Sanctorum^ of 
which an Italian version is prefixed to Aldo's edition of Catherine's 
Letters and another appended to Pecct's translation of the Legenda. 
But several contestations of the very first importance, including 
Don Francesco di Vanni Malavolti, Pietro dl Giovanni 
Ventura, and Fra Simone da Cortona — all of whom had been of 
the inner circle of Catherine's friends and associates— have never 
been printed in the original, and have only been made use of, to 
any considerable extent, by Augusta Drane, who had copies 
de tor the library of the Dominican nuns at Stone, 
In the present volume, I refer to Martene and Durand as 
Pnctssus simply, while quoting the unpublished contestations 
direct from the Casanatense manuscript, with occasional reference 
tD the codex of Siena. 

(3) The public cult of Catherine being now, as the result of 
the Process, firmly established and recognized by authority, the 
indefatigable Fra Tommaso Caffarint, about the year 1414, while 

r of San Domenico at Venice, composed a kind of appendix 
or supplement to Fra Raimondo's great Legenda : the Libellus de 
Suppltmento legendae prolixae beatae Catharinae de Senis. This 
work, which has never been published in its entirety, exists in a 
fifteenth century manuscript in the Biblioteca Comunale of Siena 
(MS. T. i. 2), and a copy, made in 1706 from the original MS, 
(then in the Archivio di San Domenico), is preserved in the 
Biblioteca Casanatense, the codex numbered 2360 (XX* vi. 36). 
professed translation by Padre Ambrogio Ansano Tantucci, 
published at Lucca in 1754, is merely a paraphrase of certain 
portions of the work, with the translator's own comments and 



PREFACE 

explanations inserted as though they were a portion of the original. 
In the present volume, I refer to the Latin text in the Casanatense 
manuscript as Supplementum^ and to Tantucci's version simply as 
"Tantucci." 

(4) Shortly after he compiled the Supplementum (to which he 
refers), Fra Tommaso Caffarini wrote an abridgement in Latin of 
Fra Raimondo's Legenda y with a kw slight additions and modifica- 
tions based upon his own personal knowledge of Catherine's life 
and acquaintance with Sienese matters. This was known as the 
hegenda abbreviata^ and was printed (still further curtailed) as the 
Epitome vitae beatae Caterinae \}ic\ de Sems, in the first volume of 
the collection of the lives of the Saints known as the Sanctuarium 
of Boninus Mombritius, at Milan, in 1479. The Leggenda minort 
is a beautiful Italian translation of the whole of Fra Tommaso f s 
Latin abridgement by Catherine's beloved disciple, Don Stefano 
di Corrado Maconi, when prior of the Certosa of Pavia, a manifest 
labour of love which brings the list of contemporary lives of the 
Saint to an appropriate close. Don Stefano* s work was published 
by Grottanelli at Bologna in 1868, together with a most precious 
collection of letters of Catherine's disciples and associates. It 
appears to have escaped the notice of Grottanelli, and of every 
one else as far as my knowledge extends, that (with the exception 
of the prologue and first two chapters, for which free translations 
of the second prologue and corresponding chapters of the Legenda 
prolixa are substituted) it had already been printed in the fifteenth 
century. A copy of this edition, without date or place of publica- 
tion, is in the British Museum, and it is worth noting that the 
" Sermone a laude della venerabile vergine," given at the end of 
Grottanelli's work, appears in the older edition as the sixth chapter 
of the third part, as a recapitulation, by way of conclusion, of 
the contents of the book. 

Besides these works, Fra Tommaso wrote, in collaboration 
with Fra Bartolommeo di Domenico, a litde-known treatise on 
the Dominican third order of penance, and began a history of that 
reformation of the Dominican rule in Venice, with which these 
two friars, together with Fra Raimondo, were associated. These 

xi 




PREFACE 



appear to have been composed shortly before 1408, and were first 
printed by Flaminio Cornaro, in vol. vii. of his Eccksiae Venetae 
antiquis monumentis illu$tratae r Venice, 1 749. The latter, especially, 
is full of most interesting documents and letters concerning the 
lives of Catherine's disciples ID the years immediately following 
her death, 

(5) Of St. Catherine's Letters, the originals of only six have 
been preserved — none of them being in her own hand, but all 
written at her dictation by one or other of her secretaries. Four 
of these (two in a merely fragmentary condition) are in the 
Biblioteca Comunale of Siena, in the famous manuscript numbered 
T, iii, 3. ; they are the letters to Stefano Maconi and Pietro di 
Giovanni Ventura, numbered 255, 258, 262, 264, in GiglPs 
edition, and 319, 320, 329, 332 in that of Tommaseo. A fifth, 
also addressed to Stefano Maconi (numbered 256 in Gigli and 
365 in Tommaseo), belongs to the Confraternity of Santa Lucia 
in Siena, The sixth* addressed to Jacomo di Viva, is among the 
treasures left by the late Mr, Hartwell de la Garde Grissell to 
the Jesuit church at Oxford, and was first published by Messrs, 
Frank Rooke Ley and Arthur Francis Spender in an article con- 
tributed by the latter to Si. Filer's in 1899, It had not previously 
been included in any printed edition of Catherine's works, nor 
have I ever met with a copy of it in the manuscript collections. 

In addition to these, there are a certain number of manuscripts 
containing copies of Catherine's letters, of which 1 have personally 
studied eighteen. Nine of these contain hitherto unpublished 
matter : in the Biblioteca Casanatense at Rome, MSS* 292 and 
2422 ; in the Biblioteca Riccardiana at Florence, MS. 1303 ; 
in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Florence, MSS. xxxv. 199, 
xxxviii. 130, Palat. 57, Palat. 58, Palat. 60; in the British 
Museum, Harlcian MS. 3480. The three Palatine MSS. and the 
Harleian MS. are fifteenth century copies, in one case complete, 
of the famous manuscript of the Saint's letters compiled by 
Stefano Maconi, now lost, which was once preserved in the 
Certosa of Pavia. 

The first edition of Catherine's letters, published at Bologna 

xii 



PREFACE 



in 1 492, contains only thirty-one. Aldo Manuzio brought out 
what is regarded as the editio princeps at Venice in 1500, contain- 
ing ostensibly 368 letters, but, in reality, allowing for repetitions, 
350. This was the basis of three other editions printed at Venice 
in the sixteenth century; in 1548 (Toresano), 1562 ("al segno 
della Speranza"), and 1584 (Domenico Farri), respectively. 
In Girolamo Gigli's monumental Opere della Serafica Santa 
Caterina da Siena r the letters, illustrated by the learning of Padre 
Federigo Burlamacchi, occupy volumes ii, and iii. (Siena, 1713, 
Lucca, 172 1) ; in this edition, which still remains the standard 
one, the number is brought up to 373. NIccolo Tommaseo's 
convenient edition in four volumes, published at Florence in 
i860, is practically a reprint of Gigli and Burlamacchi, the letters 
being differently arranged, with a somewhat modernized and not 
always judiciously amended text. 1 A new and critical edition of 
Catherine's letters is greatly needed. In the following pages, 
for convenience of reference, I give the numbers in Tommaseo's 
edition, with those of Gigli in brackets, but, as far as possible, 
have revised the text of my quotations by collation with the 
manuscripts. 

From the very outset, the biographical and historical value of 
Catherine's letters has been, to a considerable extent, impaired by 
the copyists (and the editors who followed them) omitting or 
suppressing passages which appeared to them of merely temporary 
interest, or not tending immediately to edification, A certain 
number appear to have been deliberately expurgated, in cases 
where the writer's burning words seemed likely to startle the 
susceptibilities of the faithful. This process seems to date back 
to the generation that immediately followed that of Catherine's 
original disciples. A striking instance is seen in a certain letter, 
of which the subject is sufficiently obvious, which Aldo introduces 
with the rubric : rt To one whose name it is better not to write, 
because of certain words used in the letter. Let not whoso reads, 
or hears it read, wonder if the sense seems to him broken ; for, 

1 An excellent selection from the letters, based on Gigli's text, has been 
published in English by Miss Vida D. Scudder (London, 1905). 



M 



PREFACE 

where et cetera is written, many words are passed over, which it is 
not meet that every one should know, nor even the name of him 
to whom it went." l Neither these words nor the omissions are 
due to Aldo himself ; the same heading occurs in every manu- 
script containing this letter which I have examined, and evidently 
dates back to the end of the fourteenth century. Other letters, 
though for different reasons, have been subjected to a similar 
process, with the general result that, even in the editions of Gigli 
and TommaseOj the text is still sadly corrupt and too often 
mutilated. The printed versions of several apparently short 
letters are little more than the devout exhortations with which 
Catherine usually opened her correspondence, the real substance 
of what she had to say being in these cases still unpublished. Of 
peculiar interest and importance in this connection are two 
manuscripts which have hitherto strangely escaped the notice of 
students : the Casanatense MS. 292, and the MS. numbered 
xxxviii. 130 in the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze ; both of which 
were evidently copied direct from Catherine's original letters. 
The former contains the full text of a number of those written in 
her name from Rome by Barduccio Canigiant ; the latter the 
authentic and complete version of her correspondence with the 
Florentine tailor, Francesco di Pippino, and his wife, Monna 
Agnese, after the Saint's final departure from Florence* In an 
appendix to the present volume, besides six entirely new letters of 
St. Catherine, I print two of these latter in full, by comparison 
of which with the previously published versions, the reader may 
estimate the amount of work still to be done by whoso would 
restore to the world the true and complete correspondence of the 
seraphic virgin. I am not without hope of myself ultimately 
undertaking this task, unless some scholar in Italy should, in the 
meanwhile, accomplish it. 

Catherine's great literary work, the Dia/ogo t was published at 

Bologna in 1472, at Naples in 1478, and at Venice in 1494, 

A number of editions were printed at Venice in the course 

of the sixteenth century. It was translated into Latin by Ser 

1 Letter 21 (306). Cf. Diakgo, cap. 124. 

xiv 



PREFACE 



Cristofano di Gano Guidini and by Fra Raimondo ; the former's 
version remains in manuscript at Siena ; that of Fra Raimondo was 
printed at Brescia in 1496, and at Cologne in 1553 and 1601, 
An English rendering of Fra Raimondo* s Latin version, entitled 
The Orcharde of Syon y by Brother Dane James, was printed by 
Wynkyn de Worde in 1 519. The vernacular text was reprinted 
by Gigli as the fourth volume of the Opere y in 1707, from a con- 
temporary, but curiously inaccurate and incomplete manuscript, 
which he somewhat too readily accepted as the work of Stefano 
Maconi. In all these editions the Italian text is unsatisfactory ; 
but, though there have been alterations and some serious omissions 
made (amounting in one place, in every edition later than that 
published at Venice in 151 7, to the greater part of two chapters), 
there has been no deliberate attempt at expurgation even in the 
most outspoken of its passages. 1 In making my quotations from 
the Dialogo, I have occasionally adopted a somewhat eclectic text, 
but have derived great assistance from the beautiful manuscript 
of Catherine's vernacular from the Biblioteca Barberini, now 
in the Vatican {Cod. Barb. LaL 4063), which gives in many 
respects a much better reading than the printed versions, and 
one which is in more general accordance with Fra Raimondo's 
Latin interpretation of the work. 

There is also ascribed to Catherine a short treatise on " Con- 
summate Perfection," in somewhat the same form as the Dialogo ; 
a kind of spiritual conversation between the soul and her Creator 
upon the complete abnegation of self and the perfect fulfilling of 
the will of God. It was printed in Latin at Lyons in 1552, under 
the title : Dialogus brevis Sanctae Catharinae Senensis, consummation 
continent perfectionem. 2 The Italian original has never been dis- 
covered, and only one manuscript of the Latin version appears to 
be known. An Italian translation, by Alessandro Piccolomini, 

* The Dia/ogo was well translated by Mr. Algar Thorold (London, 1896) ; 
but his new and abridged edition (London, 1907), which has the ecclesiastical 
, imprimatur, omits the greater part of the terrible Trattato dtlk Lagrimt. 

2 Alphonsus Rodriguez, the Jesuit mystic, refers to it as St. Catherine's in his 
Christian Ptrftctkn, Pt. viii. cap. iz. 

XV 




PREFACE 



was published by Gigli as an appendix to his edition of the Dia/ogo y 
and was freely rendered into English by Augusta Drane. None 
of the Saint's early biographers or contemporaries make any 
mention of this work, which adds nothing to our knowledge of 
the thought and doctrine of the seraphic virgin. In the absence 
of any external evidence in its favour, I am disposed to regard its 
authenticity as highly questionable. 

In dealing with the two great political struggles in which 
Catherine was engaged, I am much indebted to Alessandro 
Gherardi, La Guerra dei Fiorentini con Papa Oregon® XI y as also 
to his edition of the Diana d'Anonimo Fiorentino> and to the 
masterly work of M. Noel Valois, La France et le Grand Schisme 
d* Occident. The pieces justificatives published by the Abb£ Gayet 
have often proved most useful. I have, however, ill many cases 
preferred to go directly to the original documents bearing upon 
the Great Schism, still existing in the Archivio Segreto of the 
Vatican, by the aid of which I am able to give a somewhat full 
account of the origin of that extraordinary event. 

My grateful thanks are due to the authorities and officials 
of the Vatican Archives and Vatican Library, of the Biblioteca 
Casanatense and Biblioteca Vittorio Emanuele at Rome, of the 
Biblioteca Nazionale and Biblioteca Riccardiana of Florence, and 
of the Biblioteca Comunale of Siena, for their kind assistance 
and never-failing courtesy ; as also to the Canonico Vittorio 
Lusini of the Duomo of Siena, whose works on the churches of 
his native city are so highly valued by all students of Sienese 
matters, for his kindness in enabling me to have the oppor- 
tunity of a more intimate study of the original letter of Saint 
Catherine to Stefano Maconi, now a treasured possession of the 
Confraternity of Santa Lucia in Siena. 

E. G. G. 

Siena, 

[fl festo Nativiutis B, NL V. 






XVI 



CONTENTS 



CRAP. 

I. CATHERINE'S HIDDEN LIFE 

II. FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 

III. THE VALLEY OF LILIES . 

IV. THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 
V. THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP . 

VI. FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

VII. UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

VIII. BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON . 

IX. FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST . 

X. THE ANGEL OF PEACE 

XL CATHERINE S LAST EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

XII. THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 

XIII. FROM SIENA TO ROME . 

XIV. ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

XV. THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 

XVI. CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 
XVII. THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 

APPENDIX 

UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF SAINT CATHERINE 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 
INDEX . 



PACB 
I 

*7 
47 
61 
81 
100 
128 

153 
178 
201 

228 

*5* 

281 
304 
329 

353 
386 



407 

4*3 
429 



XV11 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



s St. Catherine of Siena. (From an Engraving) . . Frontispiece 

* Giovanni Colombini. By Sano di Pietro, {Accademia, 

Siena) ....,♦.. Facing page 64 

" St, Bridget of Sweden giving her Rule. By G. A. 
Sogliani. (Uffizi, Florence. The chief kneeling figure 
on the right is Bridget's daughter, St. Catherine of 
Sweden) ......,..„ 



A Page of the Harleian MS. 3480, showing a portion 
of St. Catherine's Letter to Bartqlommeo di 
Smebuccio. (British Museum) .... 

v Thi Ecstasy of St. Catherine. By G. A. Bazzi. 
(San Domenico, Siena) ...... 

• St. Catherine in Prayer. By Domenico Beccafumi. 
(Accademia, Siena) 

St. Catherine of Siena. By Andrea di Vanni. (San 
Domenico, Siena) 

Litter from St. Catherine to Stefano Macgni. 
(Biblioteca Comunale di Siena, MS. T. iii. 3) 

The Monks of the Certosa. By Ambrogio Bor- 
gognone. (Scuola di Belle Arti, Pavia) 



10 3 



140 



192 



240 



298 



352 



392 



xix 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



CHAPTER 1 
CATHERINE'S HIDDEN LIFE 

" Sopraitare alle patsioni ed atti di tanta gioventudine pare u leu no parlare fabuloio." 
—Dante, Fit* Nu&va, § t* 

** O »tupor ! O admiratio T O inaudita a auculia nostril familiaritatU oitensio I m — 
Raimondo da Capua, Legen<L y § m. 

Caterina Benincasa, whom we now call Saint Catherine of 
Siena, was born on March 25, 1347— the Feast of the Annunci- 
ation, which, according to Florentine and Sienese reckoning, was 
the first day of the new year. It was one hundred and twenty 
years since Saint Francis had died at Assisi in the arms of Lady 
Poverty, his mystical bride, and a quarter of a century since Daritc 
had passed away in exile at Ravenna, again to behold Beatrice in 
the empyrean heaven of which he sang. These two men are 
Catherine's elder brothers in the spirit ; the seraphic Father of 
Assist, Standard-bearer of the Crucified, as the voice in the high 
vision on La Verna had hailed him, is her predecessor in the 
mystical life ; she is the successor of the poet of the Divina 
Commedia in the history of religious thought in Italy. 

Of her contemporaries, Francesco Petrarca was then nearly 
forty-three years old. Crowned six years before as poet laureate 
on the Capitol, he was now the literary dictator of Italy, but, in 
the year of Catherine's birth, was back in his Provencal home at 
Vaucluse, fighting with the Naiads (as he poetically puts it) who 
had destroyed his garden on the bank of the Sorgue during his 
long absence across the Alps, It was probably in this very year 
that he finished the first part of his Canzoniere for Madonna 
Laura with the sonnet " Arbor vittoriosa, triunfale," and he was 
about to open the second, nobler and more spiritual series of 
lyrics with the sublime canzone, u V vo pensando " : " For, with 
death at my side, I seek a new rule for my life, and I see the 
I 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



better but cling to the worse. ?" Giovanni Boccaccio was thirty- 
four years old, and not yet the author of the Decameron. He 
had written his early prose romance and poems, had deserted or 
been deserted by his Fiammetta, and was now either at Florence 
or (as seems more likely) in Romagna at Forli, under the 
protection of Francesco degli Ordelaffi. Geoffrey Chaucer, 
according to the most recent theories of the date of his birth, 
was a little boy of seven, Edward III of England had won the 
battle of Crecy in the previous yean Charles of Luxemburg, 
King of Bohemia, unworthy grandson of Dante's adored Henry, 
and son of the heroic blind King John who had fallen at Crecy, 
had been elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles IV. From 
Avignon, Pierre Roger de Beaufort misruled the Church of 
Christ and profaned the throne of the Fisherman, under the 
title of Pope Clement VL 

The condition of Italy had altered but little since Dante had 
written his famous lament in the sixth canto of the Purgatorio. 
She was still u hostelry of sorrow/* and not yet again M lady of 
provinces." ** O wonderful poet," writes Catherine's contem- 
porary, Benvenuto da Imola, <c would that thou couldst come 
to life again now ! Where is peace, where is liberty, where is 
tranquillity in Italy ? Thou wouldst readily see, O Dante, that 
in thy time certain particular evils oppressed her ; but these, 
indeed, were small and few ; for thou dost enumerate among the 
woes of Italy the lack of a monarch and the discord of certain 
families ; whereas now worse things oppress us, so that I can say 
of all Italy what thy Virgil said of one city ; Crudelis ubique 
tuctusy ubique pavor f el pturtma mortis imago, 1 Assuredly, Italy 
suffered not such things in the time of Hannibal, nor in that of 
Pyrrhus, nor in that of the Goths or the Lombards. For Attila 
did not cross the Apennines, nor did Totila cross the Po, but 
only wasted Apulia and Rome. With how much greater excuse 
then, if it were lawful, could I cry out to the Almighty, than thou, 
whose lot was cast in happy times which all we now living in 
wretched Italy may well ^nvy ? Let Him then, who can, now 

1 jitney, II. 368, 369. 

2 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



i the Veltro whom thou didst see in vision, if he is ever to 
come/' 1 Although "Guelf and " Ghibelline ■" had long lost all 
significance, the factions continued. The Italian cities either 
groaned beneath the heavy yoke of sanguinary tyrants, or, if they 
still ruled themselves as free republics, were torn by internal dis- 
sensions and harassed by fratricidal wars with their neighbours. 
And the anarchy of the country was intensified by the presence of 
the wandering companies of mercenary soldiers — Germans, Bretons, 
English, Hungarians — now in the pay of some despot, now in that 
of a republic, but always fighting for their own hands, levying large 
ransoms from cities as the condition of not devastating their territory 
and exposing the country-people to the horrors of famine. 

The moral state of the land matched the political. The absence 
of the Popes, the example of the evil lives of the ministers of the 
Church, the growing immorality of high and low, were bringing 
religious life to a standstill in Italy. The Franciscan revival was 
utterly a thing of the past, while the encyclical letters of the 
Generals of the Dominicans testify to the deplorable degeneration 
of the Friars Preachers. 2 There is abundant evidence in the 
Revelations of Birgitta, and in the Dialogue of Catherine herself, 
that moral corruption was rampant in the convents and monasteries, 
amongst men and women alike. Many of the secular priests 
openly kept concubines ; others were usurers ; not a few followed 
the example of that bishop recorded by Dante, who was trasmutato 
iT Arno in Bacchiglione^ u translated from Florence to Vicenza," and 
did worse. 3 The spirit of worldliness, of wickedness in high places, 
stalked unabashed through the Church, while the three Beasts of 
Dante's allegory made their dens in the Papal Court. 

In the year after Catherine's birth, 1348, the great Pestilence, 
brought, it was said, in two Genoese galleys from the East, swept 
over Italy, Provence, France, and Spain, and in the following year 
spread to England and the rest of Europe. Giovanni Villani, the 

1 Omentum jujw Dan fit JIdigherii Comotdiam, iii. p. 181. 
* Cf. especially the encyclicals of Simon Lingonensis (1359) 3n *^ Bin Raimundi 
(1368), Monuments ordinis Fratrum Pratdkatorum historka, torn* v. pp. 299, 306. 
8 Cf. In/, xv, 106-1 14 with the Dw/og>, cap. 1 24. 

1 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



chronicler who could speak of Dante Alighieri as "our neighbour," 
was among the victims at Florence ; the Laura of Petrarca's poetical 
homage at Avignon ; Ambrogio Lorenzetti, the supreme painter 
of allegory, at Siena. In It al y, the scourge did not rage every - 
where with equal violence ; Milan and other cities near the Alps 
suffered comparatively little ; Florence and Siena endured its 
worst horrors. For the five months during which it devastated 
these two cities, from April or May till the beginning or end 
of September, all civie life was suspended , and about four-fifths 
of the population perished. Peculiarly appalling is the account 
given by the Sienese chronicler, Agnolo di Tura. Men and 
women felt the fatal swelling, and suddenly, while they spoke, 
fell dead. All natural and religious bonds seemed annihilated. 
Without any ecclesiastical ceremony, the abandoned dead were 
thrown indiscriminately into great trenches hastily dug in different 
parts of the city, and roughly covered up with a little earth to 
keep them from the dogs* "And I, Agnolo di Tura, called 
Grasso, buried five of my sons in one trench with my own hands. 1 ' 
Men said that the end of the world had come. Bernardo Tolomei, 
the founder of the OHvetani, came down with his white-robed 
monks from the security of secluded Monte Oliveto, to labour 
among the sufferers in the streets of Siena and the other Tuscan 
cities, and, with many of his brethren, died in the work. He 
had fewer imitators in his own city than among the Florentines. 
Matteo Villani, who took up his brother's pen, tells us that at 
Florence many who devoted their lives to the service of the plague- 
stricken either escaped entirely, or, if they took the infection, 
recovered, and their example encouraged others to similar charitable 
effort. To him it seemed like a second universal deluge, sent as 
a divine punishment for the sins of men, 1 It is, indeed, in some 

1 Matteo Villani, i, l, 2; Cronka Sanest t coll. 123, 124. ; II Pobstort {Rir. //. 
&n//,, xxiv,), cap. 32; Cronka di Pisa, coll. 1020, 102 1. The statements of 
contemporaries that 80,000 persons died in Siena, and 96,000 in Florence* — 
incredibly appalling though they seem— are probably more or less accurate. 
During the decade preceding the pestilence, the population of Florence was 
between 120,000 and 1 25,000. The survivors numbered not more than 30,000, 
In 1351, the population of Florence was still under 50,000. Cf, N. Rodolico, 










CATHERINE'S HIDDEN LIFE 

sort, a black flood across the ages, severing the Italy that had 
been Dante's from the Italy that was to be Catherine's. 

Petrarea, as we know from the famous note on the margin of 
his Virgil, was at Parma when the news of Laura's death reached 
htm ; his Trionfo detla Morte idealizes this fearful time into an 
impassioned homily on the transitoriness of all earthly greatness. 
Boccaccio was apparently at Naples, where, in the following year, 
he began his Decameron with the rhetorical description of the 
pestilence at Florence, the details of which he had not personally 
witnessed. The passed horrors had no permanent effect for good 
on men's minds, and those who believed that a great renovation 
of the world would ensue were speedily disillusioned. Restraint 
and convention had been cast oflf; riot and excess of every kind 
followed among the survivors. The deserted streets rang with 
the shouts of revellers or echoed to the fierce cries of brawlers. 
Lust, pride, and avarice tightened their grasp on men's souls. 
"Without any restraint," writes Matteo Villani, " almost all our 
city plunged into evil living, and the same and worse did the other 
cities of the world* And, according to the tidings that we could 
hear, there was no part in which those who had escaped from the 
divine anger lived in continence, but as though they deemed the 
hand of God was weary." Scarcity and famine followed in many 
places ; work kept for long at a standstill ; everywhere dissensions 
and quarrels arose over questions of heritage and succession. Not 
even the characteristic gaiety of the Sienese could hide the appalling 
desolation of their city : per Siena non pareva che fusse persona. 1 
The cynical and shameless stories of the Decameron paint the cor- 
ruption of the following years with the master's hand. Exagger- 
ation, doubtless, there is, and the writer's hatred of the priests and ' 
heir allies has coloured his pen ; but the reader of certain terrible 
chapters of Catherine's Dialogue, written not quite thirty years 
later, will find only too striking confirmation of Boccaccio's 
testimony, 

U Demecrazi** Florentine net mo tramonto, pp. 29-39. Theie figures do not include 
be eontado. 

1 C£ M. Villani, i. 4, 5 ; Cronira Sanest, coll. 124, 125. 

s 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

The house in which Catherine was born still stands, albeit 
transfigured — not irreverently nor impiously — by generations of 
worshippers, on the side of that third of Siena's hills that rises 
opposite the Duomo over the deep and fragrant Vallepiatta, the 
hill which is crowned by the great red-brick church of the Friars 
Preachers, San Domenico. A little further down towards one of 
the city gates, a gate famous in the annals of Siena's wars, is " her 
deep green spring,*' Fonte Branda, from which we can still, with 
the poet of the Songs before Sunrise, gaze M up the sheer street " : — 

*' And the house midway hanging see 
That saw Saint Catherine bodily, 
Felt on its floors her sweet feet move, 
And the live light of fiery love 
Burn from her beautiful strange face." 

Catherine's family belonged to the class and faction known as 
the Rodhini, or popolo minore % "to wit, of that rank of people 
that then ruled and governed the city of Siena." Her father, 

t Jacomo di Benincasa, was a dyer, a simple and God-fearing citizen, 
pure in heart and gentle ill speech, such a one as Giotto or Sirnone 
Martini might have painted for one of the first followers of Him 
whom men reputed the carpenter's son of Nazareth. Her mother, 
Lapa di Puccio di Ptagente, was the daughter of a citizen of the 
same class of life, who seems to have been also a poet — as many 
a popolano of that time in Tuscany was : " a woman/* writes Fra 
Raimondo, "utterly alien from the corruption of our times, albeit 
she was exceedingly careful and busy over the affairs of her house- 
hold and family, as all those who know her are aware, for she is 
still alive." At the time of the Saint's childhood, her father was 
a fairly rich man, and the family all lived together in the house 
where his workshop was. All that part of Siena is still redolent 
with the aroma of the dyers' and tanners' labours, and the strange, 

h pleasant smell links the past and present of the people of the city, 
whose maiden daughter, in Raimondo's phrase, " was made the 
bride of the King of Heaven." 

Lapa bore Jacomo a very large family of children. The names 
are known of five sons : Benincasa, Bartolommeo, Sandro, Niccolo, 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 

and Stefano ; and five daughters older than Catherine : Niccoluccia, 
Maddalena, Bonavenfura, Lisa, and Nera. Bartolommeo, the 
second son, married Lisa di Golio (or, according to others, di 
Chi men to) Colombizii, who appears to have been a first cousin of 
Giovanni Colombini (the founder of the Gesuati) y and who was 
destined to be very closely associated with Catherine in her life 
and work, 1 Of the daughters, Niccoluccia and Maddalena married 
Palmiero di Nese della Fonte and Bartolo di Vannino 3 respectively. 
Such was the refined purity of the atmosphere of the dyer's house 
that when Bonaventura, the third daughter, married a certain 
Niccolo di Giovanni Tegtiacci, she was so appalled by the licen- 
tiousness of the conversation of her husband and his young friends 
that she fell seriously ill, and was only restored to health by her 
husband's conversion. This Bonaventura was Catherine's favourite 
sister. A twin-sister, christened Giovanna, was born at the same 
time as Catherine, but died shortly after. From her birth, the 
Saint, who was the only one of her younger children that Lapa 
was able herself to nourish, was the chief darling and best beloved 
of her mother out of all the family. She is usually stated to have 
been the youngest, but Raimondo says : u After Lapa had brought 
forth Catherine, she gave birth to another girl, who was called 
Giovanna, to renew the memory of the departed sister of Catherine ; 
and this was the last, after she had given birth to twenty-five 
children/' 2 This second Giovanna, or Nanna, died when Catherine 
was sixteen years old ; the entry in the Ltbro de % Morti of San 
Domenico runs : " Nanna filia Jacobi Tinctoris sepulta est die 
xviii Aprilis, 1363/' 

As she grew up in childhood, Catherine became the darling 
of all the district round. u Verily,*' writes Fra Raimondo, c * the 



1 Cf. G. Pardi, Delk Vita t dtgti Scri/ti di Giovanni Colombinu Giovanni 
tends a message to Lisa in one of his letters (addressed to their cousin, Caterina 
di Tommaso Colombini, who founded the Gcsuatc nuns). Lisa's twin-sister 
Francesca, like her, became a Dominican tertiary. 

* Legenda t I. ii. 1 (§ 26), The Leggenda minore (p. 10) makes Catherine 
Lap's youngest child, Cf. Grottanclli, J&tro della FamigUa Bcnincasa t in vol. i. 
of Tommasco's edition of the Letters. 

7 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



wisdom and the prudence of her talk, the sweetness of her holy 
conversation, nor tongue nor pen could easily describe* Those 
alone know it who experienced it. Not only her speech, but also 
her whole bearing had a strange power, whereby the minds of men 
were in such wise drawn to good and to delight in God, that all 
sadness was excluded from the hearts of those who conversed with 
her, and every mental weariness was driven out ; nay, even the 
memory of all troubles departed, and so unwonted and so great 
a tranquillity of soul took its place, that each one, marvelling at 
himself, rejoiced with a new sort of joy, saying in his mind : It 
is good for us to be here, let us make here three tabernacles. 11 
We are surely back in the atmosphere of the Vita Nuova ; not 
otherwise had Dante sung of his Beatrice in those golden sonnets 
of his youth ; and even as the glorious lady of his mind "was 
called by many Beatrice who knew not what they were calling 
her/' so many in Siena felt such delight in Catherine's childish 
wisdom and in her company " that, by a certain excess of joy, 
they took from her her proper name, calling her not Catherine 
but Eufrosina y nor know I by what instinct," l And even as 
11 the name of that blessed queen Mary was in very great reverence 
in the words of this blessed Beatrice," so from her fifth year 
Catherine practised the most complete devotion to the Blessed 
Virgin, kneeling to salute her on every step as she passed up or 
down the staircase of her father's house. 

To such a child, in such an age, visions began to come as a 
matter of course. She was in her sixth year when, as she returned 
with her brother Stefano from the house of their sister Bonaven- 
tura, and passed down the steep Vallepiatta towards the valley of 
Fontebranda, she looked up and saw, over the summit of the 
church of San Domenico, Christ seated on an imperial throne, 
clad in the papal robes, and wearing the tiara, attended by Sts. 
Peter and Paul, and the beloved disciple, John. He smiled upon 
her and blessed her, and the girl was absorbed in ecstasy, knew 
not where she was or what she did, until her brother, calling and 
pulling her by the hand, brought her back to the sounds of earth, 
1 Legenda, I. ii. 2 (§ 27). Cf. Vita Nuwa f § § 2, ft, 
8 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 

Then she grew silent, began to abstain from food and cruelly 
to afflict her flesh, wandered to woods and caves to imitate the 
ancient anchorites of the desert, dreamed of entering the Dominican 
order in the disguise of a boy, or gathered other little girls of the 
same age around her, to join in her prayers and discipline them- 
selves together with her. Burning every day more and more with 
the fire of divine love, she consecrated her virginity to Christ. 
This, in after years, she told her confessor s, was when she was 
seven years old— which we should, perhaps, interpret as we do 
Dante's statement of the beginning of his love for Beatrice : u It 
was about the beginning of her ninth year when she appeared to 
me, and I saw her about the end of my ninth year/* 

But, when she had passed the age of twelve and was considered 
marriageable according to the customs of Siena, her sister Bona- 
ventura, whom she loved exceedingly, and to whom she could refuse 
nothing, at their mother's instigation persuaded her to change for a 
while her mode of life, to dye her hair and adorn her person, dress 
becomingly, and conform with the fashions of their little world. 
She bewailed this bitterly in after times as a grievous sin, and 
did heavy penance for it, accusing herself of having loved her 
sister more than God ; nor could all the comfortable exhortations 
of Fra Raimondo make her see it in any other light. Bonaventura 
died in August, 1362, and Catherine at once returned to her 
former mode of life. This, however, her father and brothers 
would not permit, especially after the death of the elder sister, 
whose husband had been a man of some importance among the 
adherents of the faction in Siena to which they belonged. The y 
resolved upon finding a husband for Catherine whose alliance 
would strengthen the position of their family in the city. JFinding 
her, as they deemed, obstinate and undutiful, they had recourse 
to a certain Fra Tommaso della Fonte, one of the friars of San 
Domenico, who had been brought up in their house and was 
probably a relation of the husband of Catherine's sister Niccoluccia. 

This Fra Tommaso is the first of those sons of St. Dominic 
with whom Catherine was brought into contact — a group of 
worthy men who, in the midst of all the ecclesiastical corruption 

9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



that surrounded them, maintained their single-hearted faith and 
religious fervour unimpaired, and found in the scholasticism of the 
Angelical Doctor a sufficient answer for all the problems of the 
time. Fra Tommaso was Catherine's first confessor, and seems to 
have written some account of her life, as far as it came under his 
observation, which was incorporated into Fra Raimondo's great 
Legenda. Finding her resolute, he bade her follow her inspiration, 
and counselled her to cut off her beautiful hair, as a sign to her 
family that her intention was fixed. The inevitable domestic perse- 
cution followed. Catherine's room was taken from her, and she 
was compelled to do all the menial drudgery of the house, the 
servant being sent away, in order that she might have neither time 
nor place for prayer and devotion. Abuse and reproaches were 
heaped upon her, and every unkindness shown her, in order to 
break down this seeming obstinacy. But all in vain. Thrown back 
upon herself, the girl invented the refuge that she wascver io 
urge upon her disciples that they, too, shouldfiad^aniwhich could 
never be taken from them : the cell of self-knowledge. " She 
made herself in her mind, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a 
secret cell, out of which she resolved never to go by reason of 
any external occupation. So it befell that she who, when formerly 
she had her exterior cell, sometimes stayed within and sometimes 
issued forth, now that she had made this inner cell that could not 
be taken from her, never left it," All unkindness, all reproaches, 
she bore sweetly and cheerfully. u She told me that she firmly 
pictured to herself that her father represented Our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ ; her mother the most glorious Mother of 
God ; and that her brothers and the rest of the household figured 
the holy Apostles and Disciples. And, because of this imagination, 
she served them all with such great gladness and diligence, that 
every one marvelled." ! Nor did her visions desert her. In a 
dream she thought she saw St. Dominic holding in one hand a 
white lily, which, like the bush seen by Moses, burned and 
was not consumed, and with the other offering her the black 
and white habit of the Dominican tertiaries, the Sisters of 
1 Legend** I. iv. 5, 6 (§ § 49, 50), 
IO 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



'enance, promising that she should be vested in it as she 
desired, 

Jacomo dt Benincasa had by this time been convinced that 
his daughter's conduct had a higher sanction, and was not 
prompted by any childish caprice* He had come upon her 
unawares, as she prayed in the room of her brother Stefano (the 
only brother who was still unmarried), and had seen a snow-white 
dove hovering over her head. And, so, when the girl, ordinarily 
bashful and silent, suddenly revealed to all the family her vow and 
her unalterable resolution of having Christ alone for her Spouse, 
he bade her follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for she 
would meet with no more opposition from him, and enjoined on 
all the household to leave her in perfect liberty to serve her Divine 
Bridegroom as she thought fit, 

"Then, having obtained this full and long-desired liberty of 
serving God, the virgin, already entirely dedicated to Him, began 
zealously and wonderfully to order all her life in the divine 
service. She asked and obtained a small room separate from the 
others, in which, as though in the solitude, she could devote 
herself to God, and afflict her body according to her desire. 
Here no tongue could narrate with what rigour of penitence she 
afflicted her body, and with what eagerness of love she sought 
the countenance of her Spouse. In this little chamber were 
renewed the olden time works of the holy fathers of Egypt, and 
all the more wondrously, inasmuch as they were done in her 
father's house, without any human teaching, example, or guidance/' 1 

In order to make this liberty still more secure, Catherine 
shortly after took the habit of the Sisters of Penance of St. 
Dominic, called in Siena the Maniellate — the white robe of 
innocence and the black mantle of humility in which we still see 
her clad in the pictures. These Maniellate were not nuns, strictly 
speaking, but devoted themselves to the service of God in their 
own homes. At first the sisters refused to receive a maiden into 
their number, as their order was then composed only of widows ; 
but at length, when Catherine lay ill and assured her mother that, 

i Ibid., I. vi. i (§57)< 
i i 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

if her desire was not fulfilled, God and St. Dominic would take 
her from the world, they told Lapa they would grant her daughter's 
request, provided the girl was not too beautiful. Their represen- 
tatives being reassured upon this point (for she was temporarily, 
hut completely, disfigured by her illness), and immensely edified 
by her conversation, they accepted her as a sister ; and, on her 
recovery to health, she received the habit from one of the Dominican 
friars who acted as director of the sisterhood at San Domenico 
in the Cappella delle Volte — that little chapel still so fragrant 
with her spirit. There is some small difference of opinion as 
to the date of her thus taking the habit, but I think it was most 
probably about the beginning of ^363^ 

Then began that wonderful life of almost incredible austerity 
and of mystical communings with the unseen, that made the whole 
existence of this young maiden of the people seem a new, unheard- 
of miracle. As far as the austerities were concerned, however, she 
was only continuing what she had already begun as soon as her 
family had granted her her liberty. 

Gradually abstaining from one thing after another, Catherine 
freed herself from all dependence on food or sleep. In a short 
while, she could easily restrict herself to raw herbs, a little bread, 
and water. Then the bread was left out, and she ate only the 
herbs. Soon even that became a torment to her, and she seems 
often for a long time to have lived upon the Blessed Sacrament of 
the Altar alone. * In the time during which I was allowed to be 
the witness of her life," writes Fra Raimondo, "she lived without 
any nourishment of food or drink ; aided by no natural power, 
she ever sustained, with a joyous countenance, pains and labours 
that would have been insupportable to others/' In these later 
years she would usually, to avoid scandal (for while these things 
seemed miracles to Fra Raimondo and his friends, others, of no 
less repute in the spiritual life, cried out against them), sip a little 
water and force herself to chew some coarse food, but always with 
great physical suffering. 1 She slept on a bare board. At first 

1 On one occasion, to avoid singularity, she appears to have asked the Pope 
to impose a rigid fast of bread and water upon her, as a condition of gaining an 

12 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



she wore a hair-shirt, but, characteristically dreading the least trace 
of unclcanliness, she changed it for a chain of steel, which she 
fastened so tightly round her * : ies that it pierced the skin and 
lacerated her tender flesh. Towards the end of her life, Fra 
Ralmondo compelled her, in virtue of holy obedience, to lay it 
aside, which she did, albeit unwillingly. Gradually she overcame 
the need of sleep, until at times she would only have half-an-hour 
in the space of two days and two nights — and this she told her 
confessor was the hardest of all her victories in this kind. 
Especially, she loved to keep watch in prayer continuously while 
the friars of San Domenico, whom she called her brothers, slept, 
and then rest a little on her hard board when they rose to matins. 
Not content with this, she would scourge herself with a little steel 
discipline until the blood ran down from her shoulders to her feet.* 
"Three times a day, she shed the blood from her body to render 1 
to her Redeemer blood for blood.'* Thus she, who had been an ' 
exceptionally robust and healthy child (as her mother told Fra 
Raimondo), became so attenuated and wasted that it seemed a 
wonder that the ardent spirit could still be confined in so immaterial 
a prison. In vain Lapa implored her to mitigate her austerities. 
When once, shortly before her taking the Dominican habit, she 
prevailed upon her daughter to accompany her to the Bagni of 
Vignone, one of the famous hot baths of the contado, Catherine 
waited till she was unobserved, and then exposed herself to the 
flow of the boiling water, meditating the while on the torments of 
Hell and Purgatory, beseeching the Creator to accept these pains 
which she thus voluntarily endured, instead of those others which 
(she said) her sins merited. 

Thus Catherine became one of those saints, horrible and 
repulsive to the eyes of many in an age that worships material 
gain and physical comfort, who have offered themselves as a 
sacrifice to the Eternal Justice for the sins of the world. 

There have been other women who have borne the same 

indulgence. Cf. Letter 228 (278), and the notes of Gigli and Tominaseo, 
respectively, thereon. A detailed account, differing somewhat from Raimondo* t, 
is given by Stetano Macon i, Epistola Domni Sttykitti, § 1 8, 

'3 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

burden at different epochs in the Church's history — especially in 
times of her greatest corruption — more frequently in the seclusion 
of the cloister or in the poor hovels of the peasantry. Catherine 
differs from such saints as Fina of San Gimignano and Lydwine 
of Schiedam, almost her contemporaries, or Rose of Lima in later 
times, inasmuch as this " existence of expiation n was only a small 
portion of her life's work ; but the spirit that animated them in 
their sufferings was the same. This has been admirably expressed 
by a modern French writer, in the case of the young Dutch 
woman who was born in the very year that Catherine died : 
"She made expiation, even as the other saints of her age, for 
the souls in Purgatory, for the abomination of the schism, for the 
debauchery of the clergy and the monks, for the wickedness of 
the peoples and the kings ; but, in addition to that obligation 
which she accepted of repairing the sins committed from one end 
of the Universe to the other, she had also the office laid upon 
her of being the scapegoat of her own country." Such an 
existence of expiation would be incomprehensible without a know- 
ledge of the causes, the number, and the nature of the offences, 
to make reparation for which here on earth was, in some sort, 
her raison d*ttre} For the salvation of others, Catherine was 
prepared to endure the very pains of HelL M ■ How could I be 
content, Lord, 1 she prayed, 4 if any one of those who have been 
created to Thy image and likeness, even as I, should perish and 
be taken out of my hands ? I would not in any wise that even 
one should be lost of my brethren, who are bound to me by 
nature and by grace ; I am fain that the old enemy should Jose 
them all, and Thou gain them, to the greater praise and glory of 
Thy name. Better were it for me that all should be saved, and 
I alone (saving ever Thy charity) should sustain the pains of 
Hell, than that I should be in Paradise and all they perish 
damned ; for greater honour and glory of Thy name would it 
be.' And she was answered by the Lord, as she secretly con- 
fessed to me : ( Charity cannot be in Hell, for it would destroy 
it utterly ; it were easier for Hell to be destroyed than for Charity 

1 J, K. HuyBmans, Saints L>yd<winc tie Schiedam^ pp. 6 1 -6 J, 

'4 






CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



to exist with it. 1 Then she ; * If Thy truth and Thy justice 
permitted it, 1 would that Hell were utterly destroyed, or at least 
that no soul ever more should descend thither, and if (so I were 
still united to Thy charity) I were put over the mouth of Hell 
to close it, in such wise that none should ever more enter it, 
much would I rejoice, so that all my neighbours might thus be 
saved/ " 1 And, on another occasion, she prayed : " Lord, give 
me all the pains and all the infirmities that there are in the world, 
to bear in my body ; I am fain to offer Thee my body in sacrifice, 
and to bear all for the world's sins, that Thou mayest spare it 
and change its life to another.*' *' And when she said these words, 
she was abstracted from her senses and rapt in ecstasy. But, 
when she returned to herself, she was white as snow, and began 
to laugh loudly and to say ; * Love, Love, I have conquered 
Thee with Thyself. For Thou dost wish to be besought for 
what Thou canst do of Thine own accord/ " 2 

Catherine's first step, after receiving the Dominican habit, 
was to enter upon a prolonged retreat For three years con- 
tinuously, she kept a complete silence, speaking only with her 
confessor, Fra Tommaso della Fonte, when she confessed to him, 
and occasionally with other persons at his bidding. She dwelt 
continually within the religious enclosure 
ever left it save when she went to hear Mass 
poetical phrase, "She found the desert with 
solitude in the midst of people* 1 ' 

Now began the continuous series of her visions. In her 
narrow cell she smelt the fragrance of celestial lilies, and heard 
the ineffable melodies of Paradise, sweetest of all on the lips of 
those who had loved Christ on earth with the most ardent love. 
11 Father," she said to Fra Tommaso, " do you not hear the 
Magdalene, how she sings with a high voice and with grace of 
singular sweetness, in company of all the choir of the blessed ? " 
Christ Himself appeared to her spiritual eyes, instructed her in 
the secret mysteries of the Divinity, conversed continually with 

1 Legenda % Prologue 1. (§ 15). 

2 Suppitmtntum (Cisanatcnse MS.), f. 30. Of. Dante, Par, xx. 94-99. 

'5 



5 bidding. She dwelt 
of her little ceil, nor I 
\$. In Fra Raimondo's ) 
lin her own house and ] 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



her and familiarly as friend with friend, and kissed her with u the 
mysterious kiss that infused into her spirit the sweetness of 
ineffable delight." ] And, at the very beginning of these visions 
and revelations, the Lord delivered to her the simple doctrine 
which became the basis of her whole conception of God and man : 
" Knowest thou, O daughter, who thou art and who am I ? 
Thou art she who art not, and I am He who am* If thou 
hast this knowledge in thy soul, the enemy will never be able to 
deceive thee, and thou wilt escape from all his snares ; never 
wilt thou consent to anything against My commandments, and 
every grace, every truth, every clearness, thou wilt acquire without 
difficulty." a The soul,*' said Catherine, in illustration of this, 
u that already sees her own nothingness and knows that all her 
good is in her Creator, entirely abandons herself with all her powers 
and all creatures, and immerges herself utterly in her Creator, in 
such wise that she directs all her operations primarily and entirely 
towards Him ; nor would she in any wise go out of Him, in 
whom she perceives she has found every good and all perfection of 
felicity ; and from the vision of love, which daily increases in her, 
she is in a manner so transformed into God that she cannot think, 
nor understand, nor love, nor remember aught save God, and 
what concerns God. She sees not other creatures or herself, save 
only in God, neither does she remember herself or them, save 
simply in God ; even as one who dives down into the sea, and is 
swimming under its waters, neither sees nor touches aught save 
the waters of the sea and the things that are in those waters ; he 
sees nothing outside those waters, touches nothing, feels nothing* 
If the likeness of those things that are without reflect themselves 
in the water, he can, indeed, see them ; but only in the water and 
as they are in the water ; not otherwise. And this is the ordered 
and right love of self and of all creatures, in which we cannot go 
wrong, because of necessity it is governed by divine rule, neither 
by it is anything desired outside God, because it is ever exercised 
in God and is ever in Him/' 






i Tantucci, pj>* 36, 45. 

16 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



And from this, too, she drew her doctrine of holy hate. The 
more a soul so conjoined with God loves Him, so much the more 
does she hate the offence she commits against Him, and, seeing 
the origin of every sin has its roots in her own sensual part, she is 
inspired to a holy hate of this and wages a relentless war of the 
spirit against it. u Woe to that soul/ 1 said Catherine, "in whom 
this holy hatred is not ; for needs must be that, where it is not, 
self-love wiU reign, which is the sink of all sins and the root and 
cause of every evil greed." l 

This doctrine, upon which her whole spiritual teaching may 
be said to depend, Catherine explained in detail, some nine or ten 
years later, to an Englishman, whom we shall meet in her circle, 
William Flete, one of the Augustinian friars of Lecceto* M The~ 
holy mother, " he wrote, at the beginning of 1376, "speaking of 
herself in the third person, said that at the beginning of her 
illumination she set as the foundation of all her life, against self- 
love, the stone of self-knowledge, which she distinguished into 
three small stones. The first was the consideration of C reation ; 
that is, that she had no being of herself, but dependent only 
upon the Creator, both in production and in conservation, and 
that the Creator had done and was doing all this through His 
grace and mercy. The second was the consideration of Redemp- 
tion, that is, how the Redeemer with His Wood had restored 
tRe life of grace which had until then been destroyed ; and this 
through His pure and fervent love, which man had done nought 
to deserve. The third was the consideration of her own sins, 
committed after baptism and the grace received in it, for which 
she had deserved eternal damnation, and was stupefied at the 
eternal goodness of God because He had not commanded the 
earth to swallow her up. From these three considerations, there 
was born in her so great a hatred of herself, that she desired 
nought according to her own will, but only according to the will 
of God, who, she knew, willed nought save her good. From 
this it followed that she was content and glad at every tribulation 
and temptation ; not only because it came to her by the will of 
1 Legenda, I. x. 1, 8, 9 (§§ 92, 100, 101). 
2 17 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



God, but also to see herself punished and chastised. She began, 
thereforCp to have the greatest displeasure from those things in 
which she at first delighted, and a great delight in what at first 
displeased her." 

u She also said that self-love is the cause of every evil and 
the ruin of every good, and that it is of two kinds, to wit, 
sensitive self-love and spiritual self-love. The first is the cause 
of all sensual sins, and of all others that are open and manifest, 
and are committed through affection for earthly things and 
creatures ; that is, when, for love of them, the commandments 
of the Creator are scorned and disobeyed. The second self-love, 
called spiritual, is that which, after despising earthly things, all 
creatures, and even his own senses, nevertheless makes man keep 
so tenaciously attached to his own spiritual appetite and to 
his own opinion, that he will not serve God nor walk in His 
ways unless in accordance with his own desire and feeling. 
Therefore, since God wants man wkh ew t a wiB rf las own, 
a one cannot possibly stand firm nor pux ^ twi i* tes *& 
must he fall, because he adheres more to lib Mm ml than to 
the divine. Such are all those who would 6m dtattft state and 
exercise according to their own kktag* aad «M irxnadhg as they 
are called by God and judged by the counsel of prudent 
discreet persons. Such also are those who are too much wedded 
to some spiritual work or exercise, such as fasting or the like, as 
though it were an end in itself ; for it then happens that, if they 
cannot practise it, they at once yield to despair and abandon every- 
thing. Among these should also be included those who love 
spiritual consolations and sweetnesses too much, and, when these 
fail them, soon despair. True spiritual love loves God alone and 
the salvation of the soul for God's sake. It makes use of all 
other things in due order for this end, and recks not what the 
means may be, provided that the end is the honour of God and 
the salvation of our neighbours. Whoso, then, possesses true 
spiritual love must judge and take all things according to the will 
of God, and not according to that of men ; and when he remains 
deprived of any spiritual consolation, he must at once think and 

18 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



say: This befalls me through the divine disposition, by the per- 
mission of God, who, in all the adversities that He sends me, seeks 
and wills nought save my justification and salvation. And with 
this thought all bitter things will be rendered sweet/ 1 1 

But, as the conversations with her divine Lover grew more 
frequent and familiar, and the revelations of the divine Beauty 
more full and overwhelming, so did the manifestations of the evil 
of the world the more insistently press themselves upon her. And, 
as ever with men and women of the Middle Ages, they took a 
personal and anthropomorphic form in the shape of temptations 
of the devil At first, indeed, Catherine had doubted whether 
the visitation that seemed celestial might not, in reality, have some 
such diabolical source, u But I will teach thee," said the Voice 
in her heart, a how to distinguish My visions from the visions of 
the enemy. My vision begins with terror, but always, as it 
grows, gives greater confidence ; it begins with some bitterness, 
but always groweth more sweet. In the vision of the enemy 
the contrary happens, for in the beginning it seems to bring some 
gladness, confidence, or sweetness, but, as it proceeds, fear and 
bitterness grow continuously in the soul of whoso beholds it. 
Even so are My ways different from his ways. The way of 
penance and of My commandments seemeth harsh and difficult 
in the beginning ; but, the more one walks therein, the more 
does it become easy and sweet ; whereas the way of the vices 
appears in the beginning right delightful, but in its course 
becomes ever more bitter and more ruinous. But I will give 
thee another sign, more infallible and more certain. Be assured 
that, since I am Truth, there ever results from My visions a 
greater knowledge of truth in the soul ; and, because the know- 
ledge of truth is most necessary to her about Me and about herself, 
that is, that she should know Me and know herself, from which 
knowledge it ever follows that she despises herself and honours 
Me, which is the proper office of humility, it is inevitable that from 

1 Relatione J* una dotlrina % o doeumento spirituale r uriita nelf anm del Sign&re 1 376, 
r g'wrno settimo del mese di Gennah % da Fra Gugtielmo Flete ingles e. Published by 
Jigli as an appendix to the Diatogo. Cf. Letters 64 (124), 7 1 (358), 213 (163). 

19 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



My visions the soul becomes more humble, knowing herself better 
and despising her own vileness. In the visions of the enemy the 
opposite happens ; for, since he is the father of lies, and the king 
over all the children of pride, and cannot give save what he has, 
from his visions there ever results in the soul a certain self-esteem 
or presumption on herself, which is the proper office of pride, 
and she remains swollen and puffed up. Thou, then, by ever 
examining thyself diligently, wilt be able to consider whence the 
vision has come, whether from the truth or from the lie ; for 
truth always makes the soul humble, but the lie makes her 
proud/* l And again, when she prayed for strength against these 
assaults : " Daughter, if thou wouldst acquire the virtue of 
fortitude, thou must needs imitate Me. Albeit I could by My 
divine virtue annihilate all the power of the enemy, and take 
another way to conquer him, nevertheless, because I wished 
with My human actions to give an example to you, I would not 
conquer save by the way of the Cross, in order to teach you by 
deed as well as word. If you would become strong, to over- 
come every power of the enemy, take the Cross for your con- 
solation, even as I did, who (as My Apostle says) having joy set 
before Me endured the Cross f in order that you may choose not 
only patiently to bear pains and afflictions, but even to embrace 
them as consolations. And, verily, they are consolations ; for 
the more you bear such things for My sake, the more do you 
make yourselves like to Me ; for as you are partakers of the suffer- 
ings r it follows, according to the teaching of My Apostle, that so 
shall you be also of the consolation. Receive then, My daughter, 
the sweet things as bitter, and the bitter things as sweet, for My 
sake ; and fear nothing henceforth, for certainly for all things 
thou shalt be strong.** 2 

There came a time, towards the end of these three years, 
when these assaults and temptations became horrible and un- 
bearable. Aerial men and women, with obscene words and still 
more obscene gestures, seemed to invade her little cell, sweeping 
round her like the souls of the damned in Dante's Hell, invi 




CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



ier simple and chaste soul to the banquet of lust. Their 
suggestions grew so hideous and persistent, that she fled in 
terror from the cell that had become like a circle of the infernal 
regions, and took refuge in the church ; but they pursued her 
thither, though there their power seemed checked. And her 
Christ seemed far from her. At last she cried out, remembering 
the words in the vision : " I have chosen suffering for my 
consolation, and will gladly bear these and all other torments, in 
the name of the Saviour, for as long as shall please His Majesty/* 
M When she said this, immediately all that assemblage of demons 
departed in confusion, and a great light from* above appeared 
that illumined all the room, and in the light the Lord Jesus 
Christ Himself, nailed to the Cross and stained with blood, as 
He was when by His own blood He entered into the holy 
place ; and from the Cross He called the holy virgin, saying : 
* My daughter Catherine, seest thou how much I have suffered 
for thee ? Let it not then be hard to thee to endure for Me.* 
Then, in another guise, He approached her to console her, and 
spoke sweetly to her of the triumph that she had already won in 
that battle. But she, imitating Antony, said : * And where wast 
Thou, my Lord, whilst my heart was tormented with so much 
foulness ? ' To which the Lord answered : ' I was in thy heart. 
Thou, My daughter, who, with My and not with thine own 
virtue, hast so faithfully battled, hast merited still greater favour 
from Me ; and therefore, henceforth, I will reveal Myself to thee 
more often and in more familiar wise/ H 

This was the first time that the divine Voice had called her 
by her name, and it gave her such rapture of delight that she 
prayed her confessor, Fra Tommaso, that he would always 
address her in this way: My daughter Catherine; in order that 
the sweetness might be ever renewed. Her colloquies with the 
Saviour grew more frequent, more prolonged, more intimate. 
Sometimes He appeared to her with His Virgin Mother, some- 
times with St. Dominic, St, Mary Magdalene, St. John the 
Evangelist, St. Paul, or other saints ; " but most times He came 
unattended, and conversed with her as a friend with a most intimate 

21 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



friend ; in such wise that (as she herself secretly and bashfully 
sometimes confessed to me) ofttimes the Lord and she recited 
the Psalms, walking up and down in her room, as two religious 
or clerics are wont to say the office together. O wondrous, 
marvellous, and unheard of jn our ages, demonstration of the 
divine familiarity ! " l 

During this time of seclusion* Catherine learned to read, 
though it does not appear that she attempted to study anything 
more than the Psalms and the offices of the Church. Fra 
Raimondo tells us that she had originally got the alphabet from 
a companion of hers, but found it so hard to get further that, 
fearing that she was losing time, she prayed to God and was 
miraculously instructed. When he knew her, she could read any 
writing, rapidly and with ease, though unlike other people and as 
if she knew the meaning of the words without being able to spelt 
out the syllables. Reading, however, was not her only recreation. 
She took great delight in flowers of all kinds, and would weave 
them into crosses and garlands in her spare time, singing mystical 
songs of divine praise the while. These she would~senH or give 
as presents, either directly or through Fra Tommaso della Fonte, 
in token of the love of Christ, A young Dominican friar, 
Tommaso di Antonio Caffarini, soon to be very closely associated 
with her spiritual life, tells us that, before he knew her, he had 
received some of these mystical gifts through her confessor. 2 

At the same time, perhaps inevitably, her ecstasies were 
growing upon her. After Communion, or at other times when 
meditating upon the mysteries hidden in God, she would be rapt 
out of her senses for a while, and her body left rigid and seemingly 
lifeless, insensible to touch or wound. This increased with years, 
and lasted all through her life. It is a not unusual feature in the 
legends of women saints and mystics, nor would it be hard to 
find a purely natural and scientific explanation, 

There are, doubtless, many who will regard this simply as a 
form of catalepsy, and who will see in much of these visionary 

1 Legend*, L xi, 5, 6 (§ § 109-1 12). 

2 Con 1 cs tat to Fr. Tbomae Caffarini, Processus f col. 1 260. 

22 



CATHERINE'S HIDDEN LIFE 



experiences little more than hysterical phenomena ; nor need the 
faithful followers of St. Catherine to-day deny this as a possible, 
or even probable, element in her life. In the record of her 
revelations, we are confronted with things that are incapable of 
literal acceptance, that, perhaps, at times even offend our religious 
sensibilities, occurring side by side with profound truths, expressed 
with wonderful precision and startling inspiration, shedding light 
upon every step of the believer's difficult path from the human 
to the divine* That phenomena not unconnected with organic 
hysteria existed side by side with the possession of a suprasensible 
revelation in the lives of many of the greatest mystical saints, 
may well be granted. It has even been urged, in the case of St. 
Teresa, that, while suffering in a sense from organic hysteria, 
her knowledge of the workings of her own soul was so clear and 
exact that she could distinguish perfectly between these two 
classes of experiences, the natural and the supernatural, and that 
this fact is the strongest guarantee for the truth of her account 
of the latter. 1 Catherine, like Teresa, with her unwavering 
fortitude and calm resolution, her firm will which was to impose 
itself upon the rulers and powers of the world, her practical sense 
and angelic wisdom, is poles asunder from a hysterical subject ; 
yet, perhaps, with all her celestial endowments, this thing was 
given her as the Pauline " thorn in the flesh, the messenger of 
Satan to buffet me." She had learned early to discriminate 
between the two kinds of vision — those that proceeded from her 
divine Teacher and those that were the work of the father of 
lies. But I do not think that she could distinguish between the 
natural and the supernatural in the way that has been claimed for 
St. Teresa ; at times, in her visions, we cannot but detect 
apparent hallucinations, to which a physician would probably 
assign a hysterical origin. Yet the u abundance of the revelations M 
is more surely there. 

1 For all this delicate question, see especially G. Hahn, Let phenomena 
hysterioues et les revelations de Sainte Therese ( Revue des Questions Scientifiqueu, 
xiii. pp. SS3-569, xtv. pp. 39-84)* and cf. H. Joly, Psychologic des Saints, pp. 
IIO, III, and W. James, The Varieties of Religious Experience^ pp. 1 4- 1 8. 

2 3 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

The mystical revelations and divine colloquies of these three 
years culminated in the " spiritual espousals" of Catherine with 
Christ on the last day of the carnival, most probably, I think, in 
the yearjj66, 

By this term, M spiritual espousals/* the great mystics clearly 
mean something different, not in degree but in kind, from what 
every nun may be said to experience when she consecrates her 
virginity to Christ. They evidently hold that some chosen souls, 
after passing through the ways of purgation and illumination, 
having been tried in much tribulation and mortification, and 
enlightened by profound meditation upon spiritual things, attain 
to a state of mystical perfection which they call the u spiritual 
marriage," in which, by an intellectual vision of Christ in the 
centre of the soul, they become united to Him in some special 
and peculiarly absorbing manner, and become, in some sort, one 
thing with Him. The mystical poets of Spain, St Teresa and 
St. John of the Cross, draw a distinction between " spiritual 
espousals" and the ''spiritual marriage," for which the former 
is but a preparation. " That which God here communicates to 
the soul in an instant," says St, Teresa, u is so great a secret and 
so sublime a grace, and what she feels is such an excessive 
delight, that I know nothing with which to compare it, except 
that Our Lord is pleased at that moment to manifest to her the 
glory which is in Heaven ; and this He does in a more sublime 
way than by any vision or spiritual delight. More cannot be 
said (as far as can be understood) than that this soul becomes one 
with God ; for as He Himself is a spirit, His Majesty is pleased 
to discover the love He has for us, by making certain persons 
understand how it extends, in order that we may praise His 
greatness, because He has vouchsafed to unite Himself to a 
creature in such a way that, as in the marriage- state husband and 
wife can no more be separated, so He will never be separated 
from hen" l 

It would seem that Catherine does not regard the " spiritual 
marriage," as St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross understand it, 

1 El Castillo Inttrior f Moradas set'tmas^ cap, ii. (Dalton's translation). 

24 



s 



J* 



CATHERINES HIDDEN LIFE 



attainable in this world — at least for one who, like her, though 
ever walking with Christ and ever talking with Him even while 
in the midst of men, was, nevertheless, called to a life of active 
labou r for His name rajther than to sheer contemplation. Her 
** spiritual espousals " were to have their mystical consummation 
in the eternal nuptials of Paradise. " It would be foolishness,'* 
writes St. John of the Cross, " to think that the language of love 
and the mystical intelligence can be at all explained in words of 
any kind/' The loving souls, in whom the Spirit dwells, " use 
figures of special comparisons and similitudes ; they hide some- 
what of that which they feel, and, in the abundance of the Spirit, 
utter secret mysteries rather than express themselves in clear 
words." " It is better to leave the outpourings of love in their 
own fulness, that every one may apply them according to the 
measure of his spirit and power, than to pare them down to one 
particular sense which is not suited to the taste of every one.** x 
A mystic must express his vision in the symbolic terms of his 
own day, and it is, therefore, not wonderful that Catherine 
should describe her spiritual betrothal with imagery suggestive 
of the Italian painting of the fourteenth century. 

She had prayed again and again, Fra Raimondo tells us, for 
the gift of the perfection of the virtue of faith, such that it should 
never be shaken or beaten down by any assault of the enemy, and 
ever had she heard the same answer made : / will espouse thee to 
Myself in Faith. At length, on the last day of the carnival, 
while all Siena was given up to the usual festivities of the season, 
the Voice told her that the time had come : u I will this day 
celebrate solemnly with thee the festival of the betrothal of thy 
soul, and, even as I promised, I will espouse thee to Myself in 
Faith." M Whilst the Lord was yet speaking, there appeared the 
most glorious Virgin, His Mother, the most blessed John 
Evangelist, the glorious apostle Paul, and the most holy 
Dominic, the father of her order ; and with these the prophet 
David, who had the psaltery set to music in his hands ; and, 

1 Cdntko EtpWUual entrt tl Alma y Criito, tu Eifioi& f prologo (D. Lewis's 
translation). 

*5 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

(while he played with most sweet melody, the Virgin Mother of 
God took the right hand of Catherine with her most sacred hand, 
and, holding out her fingers towards the Son, besought Him to 
deign to espouse her to Himself in Faith. To which graciously 
consenting, the Only Begotten of God drew out a ring of gold, 
which had in its circle four pearls enclosing a most beauteous 
diamond; and, placing this ring upon the ring-finger of Catherine's 
right hand, He said : c Lo, I espouse thee to Myself, thy Creator 
and Saviour, in the Faith, which, until thou celebratest thy eternal 
nuptials with Me in Heaven, thou wilt preserve ever without 
stain. Henceforth, My daughter, do manfully and without 
hesitation those things which, by the ordering of My providence, 
will be put into thy hands ; for, being now armed with the 
fortitude of the Faith, thou wilt happily overcome all thy 
adversaries/ Then the vision disappeared, but that ring ever 
remained on her finger, not indeed to the sight of others, but only 
to the sight of the virgin herself; for she often, albeit with bash- 
fulness, confessed to me that she always saw that ring on her 
finger, nor was there any time when she did not see it." l 

1 Legenda, L xiL i, 2 (§ 115). 



26 



!** Ha, mater piUiima, iponsa Christi ! quoi in aqua et spiritu general libi filio* ad 
ruborcm! Non Chariu*, non Astraea, »ed filiae »anguisugae factae lurvt tibt nurus/' — 
Dante, Efut> viil. 7. 
F 



CHAPTER II 
FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 



Fully to understand Catherine's political work and missio n, 
we must turn to the states and rulers with which and with whom 
she was to be brought into direct contact. 

The u Babylonian Captivity " of the Popes at Avignon, which 
had begun with Clement V in 1305, was still, to some extent, the 
dominant feature in the situation. It was on Clement's death, 
in 1314, that the voice had been heard of "a man who was a 
prophet/' and Dante, in his letter to the Italian cardinals at 
Carpentras, had renewed for Rome the lamentation of Jeremiah 
for Jerusalem. 1 Things had grown worse under Clement's 
successor, the Cahorsine John XXII (1316-1334). " The gold 
which is the holiness of virtues has grown dim in the Church," 
wrote Alvarus Pelagius, M for all covet material gold. Ordina- 
tions and the sacraments are bought and sold for gold. When- 
ever I entered the apartment of the chamberlain of our Lord the 
Pope, I saw brokers, and tables full of gold, and clerics counting 
and weighing florins. 1 ' 3 Petrarca had written two poetical 
epistles to Benedict XII (1 334-1 342), exhorting him to return 
to Italy, and he duly offered a similar appeal in the name of 
Rome to the man who now sat on the papal throne, Clement VI 
(1342-1352), 3 In Clement, the typical Limousin pope, the 
corruption of this epoch of the Papacy was personified. Learned 
and eloquent, not without a certain magnanimity, his private life, 
both as archbishop and as pope, was scandalous, and such was the 

1 Eplst. viii. 4,. 

* Dt Plant tu EuUsiae) II. 7. Cf. Dante, Par. xviii. 130^136 j G. VilJani, 

1 Epi/t. mtir tt Lib. I. *, 5; Lib. II. 5. 

27 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

luxury and prodigality of his court that he would have taxed all 
Christendom, had he been able, to supply the funds. He wasted 
the treasures of the Church in lending money to the French kings 
to aid them in their wars with England, and in the advancement 
of his kindred, filling the Sacred College with men of his own 
stamp and country, godless and worldly, many of them of evil 
and dissolute life. If Petrarca is to be believed, the riotous 
licentiousness of these younger cardinals was but too well matched 
in the senile debauchery of their elders who wore that hat, in 
Dante's phrase, che pur di male in peggio si /ravasa, u which doth 
but pass from bad vessel to worse/* u Our two Clements,*' said 
a French prelate of the Curia (probably the Patriarch of Jerusalem, 
Philippe de Cabassole) to Petrarca, u have destroyed more of the 
Church in a few years than seven of your Gregories could restore 
in many centuries," l 

In his three terrible sonnets against Avignon, Petrarca has 
painted for all time the state of the society that gathered round 
Clement's throne. But in one of his Latin poems, the sixth 
eclogue entitled Pastorum pathos, St. Peter, in the guise of the old 
shepherd Pamphilus, rebukes his hireling successor Mitio, who 
is Clement himself, for the desolation of the pastures and the 
destruction of the flocks, only to find him brazen-faced and 
exulting in his shame. 2 Even more frightful is the picture of 
the corruption of the papal court which the poet has left us 
in his Epistolae sine tituh y albeit the note of exaggeration and 
rhetorical inflation is manifest. M What difference is there," he 
asks, 4t between those enemies of Christ, who betrayed Him with 
a kiss and bent the knee before Him in mockery, and the 
Pharisees of our time ? That same Christ, whose name they 
exalt night and day with hymns of praise, whom they robe in 
purple and gold, whom they load with jewels, whom they salute 
and adore prostrate — that very same do they not buy and sell on 
earth like merchandise ? As it were blindfold that He may not 

1 EftsL sine tituh, XIX. Cf. M. Villain, iii. 45 ; Benvenuto da Imola, 
C$mentum t v. p. 289. 

2 Eglqga VI. 

28 



FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 



see, they crown Him with the thorns of their impious wealth ; 
they defile Him with most impure spittal, and assail Him with 
viperous hissing ; they strike Him with the spear of their poisonous 
deeds ; and, so far as in them lies, mocked, naked, poor, and 
scourged, they drag Him again to Calvary, and nail Him again 
to the Cross. 1 ' Avignon is the Babylon of the West, the home 
of all vices and misery, the same that the Evangelist saw in spirit ; 
little, indeed, according to the circuit of its walls, but immense in 
its accumulation of wickedness. 1 

On December 2, 1352, the campanile of St. Peter's was struck 
by lightning. All the bells were dashed to the ground and fused 
together as though they had been melted in a furnace. At once 
the report spread through Rome that Pope Clement was dead. 
14 Lo now," it seemed to a Swedish widow that Christ said in her 
heart, u the bells are burning, and men are crying out : Our lord 
is dead, our lord the Pope has departed ; blessed be this day, 
but not blessed that lord. How strange, for where all should 
cry : May that lord live long and live happily ; there they cry 
and say with joy : Down with him and may he not rise up again ! 
But it is no wonder, for he himself, who should have cried : 
Come, and ye shall find rest for your souls ; he cried : Come , and 
behold me in pomp and ambition more than Solomon. Come to my 
Court* and empty your purses, and ye shall find perdition for your 
souls. For thus did he cry by example and in deed. Therefore 
the time of My wrath is now approaching, and I shall judge him 
as one that has scattered the flock of Peter. O what a judgment 
awaits him ! But, nevertheless, if he will yet be converted to 
Me, I will run to meet him half-way like a tender father," 2 

Clement's successor, Etienne d'Albret, who took the title of 
Innocent VI (1 352-1362), was a simple man, "of good life and 
not much knowledge ; " he made an earnest, but ineffectual 
attempt to reform the papal court. The confusion of French 
politics and the presence of bands of mercenaries in Provence 

1 Eput. sine fitulo, XVI., XIX., XX. 

* Revektkna S. Birgi/ta/ t VI. 96. Cf. M. Villani, iii. 42. Clement actually 
died at Avignon on December 6. 

29 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

were making Avignon a less desirable residence. Innocent spoke 
of returning to, or at least visiting, Rome. In 1353, he sent the 
great Spanish cardinal, Egidio (or Gil) de Albornoz, as legate to 
Italy, to re-establish the power of the Holy See in the States of 
the Church. 

The two great powers of the peninsula (leaving Venice out 
of the question, as, indeed, she did not yet concern herself much 
with the politics of the mainland) were Milan in the north, where 
the Visconti — the typical Italian tyrants of the age— were absorbing 
a great part of Lombardy, and Nagfes in the south, under the 
sway of sovereigns of the house of Anjou , the descendants of 
the great Charles whom Dante saw in the Valley of the Princes 
outside the gate of Purgatory. The one state was a n absolu te 
desp otisg i, under a family traditionally hostile to the Church ; the 
other a feudal kin gdom , normally a staunch supporter of the 
Holy See. 

On the death of Luchino Visconti in 1349, his brother, the 
Archbishop Giovanni — an able and astute ruler, one of the least 
atrocious of his cruel house — united the spiritual and temporal 
sovereignty of its dominions in his own person. Bologna, though 
nominally subject to the Church, had been the most powerful 
city in Romagna, and one of the chief free republics of central 
Italy. But the factions, raging there as elsewhere, had led to its 
falling in 1321, the year of Dante's death, under the sway of a 
single man, Romeo de* Pepoli, whose grandsons sold it in 1350 
to the Archbishop of Milan. Clement VI shamelessly confirmed 
this transaction by granting him the investiture of Bologna for 
twelve years. On the death of Giovanni in J 354, he was 
succeeded in his temporal sovereignty by his three nephews : 
Matteo, Bernabo, and Galeazzo ; but In 1356, either consumed 
by his own lusts or poisoned by his brothers, Matteo died, and 
the other two divided the dominions of their house. Bernabo 
made Milan his capital, while Galeazzo, after the capture of 
Pavia in 1359, set his headquarters in the latter city. A Visconti 
of uncertain parentage, Giovanni da Oleggio (possibly an un- 
acknowledged bastard of the late Archbishop), made himself 

30 



FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 

independent master of Bologna, with aid from the Marquis 
of Ferrara, and ruled it with the usual brutal tyranny of his 
family. 

Bernabo Visconti was now the head of the Ghibelline party in 
Italy. A man of fierce passions, subject to paroxysms of bestial 
fury, he was a cruel and sanguinary tyrant, but a prudent and 
subde politician, A mighty hunter, he enforced his game-laws 
by wholesale blinding, torturing, and hanging of his unhappy 
contadini. On one occasion, he burned alive two friars who had 
rebuked him for these proceedings. He ground down his people 
with taxation, and quartered his five thousand hunting-dogs upon 
the citizens and convents ; their keepers were more dreaded than 
the magistrates of the towns. Bernabo married Regma Beatrice 
della Seal a, the ambitious and able daughter of the despot of 
Verona* u This woman," writes Corio, u ruled in great part her 
husband's dominion ; she was of an imperious nature, proud and 
daring, insatiable of wealth/' l 

The ruler of the south, the head of what would, under normal 
circumstances, have been the Guelf party, was that mysterious and 
unhappy woman, Giovanna of Anjou : M the great harlot that 
sitteth upon many waters and was called the Queen of Naples/' 2 
Readers of Dante's Par a di so need not be reminded that Charles 
Robert, son of the poet's beloved Charles M artel and Clemence 
of Hapsburg, had been excluded from the throne of Naples 
by his uncle, Charles Mattel's younger brother, Robert the 
Wise. Charles Robert became King of Hungary in 1308, 
and ruled till 1342. In 1333, a reconciliation of the rival 
claims of the two branches of the House of Anjou had been 
effected by the marriage of Andrew, second son of Charles 
Robert of Hungary, with Giovanna, the granddaughter and 
heiress of Robert of Naples — both being seven years old. But 
there were a number of princes of the royal blood of Naples 
who might have expected the old King's choice to have fallen 

1 Storia d't Milano, III. 6. " Regina " appears to have been one of Beatrice's 
real names, not merely an assumed tide. 

3 Walsingham, Historia AnghcAm (ed, Riley), II. p. 49. 

31 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

upon them, and the Hungarians were detested. The marriage 
was an unhappy one, Robert of Naples died in 1343* On 
September 18, 134^ Andrew was strangled as he left the Queen's 
chamber at Aversa ; it seems probable that Giovanna was at 
least privy to the deed, and others of the royal family were 
implicated. 

Such, at least, was the view of the avenger— the dead man's 
brother, Louis of Hungary — by strict descent the head of the 
house of Anjou, A young king, strong and terrible, he 
assembled a Hungarian army, and, in 1347, invaded Italy. 
Giovanna, who had married her cousin, Luigi of Taranto, fled 
to Provence (of which she was Countess), where she convinced 
the Pope of her innocence, and sold Avignon to him for a 
nominal sum. With his black standard of vengeance floating 
before him, the King of Hungary entered the kingdom of 
Naples. At Aversa, he executed his cousin, Charles of Durazzo, 
on the spot of Andrew's murder, as an accomplice in the crime ; 
the rest of the royal family were sent prisoners into Hungary, 
with the little child, Carobert, Giovanna's son (ostensibly by her 
late husband), who died almost immediately. Naples surrendered 
in terror. But, in the next year, Giovanna and Luigi returned ; 
and a long war was brought to an end by the Pope's intervention 
in April, 1352, leaving the kingdom to Giovanna and her 
husband, and to Louis what he professed alone to desire — the 
satisfaction of having avenged his brother's death. 

Giovanna's second husband died in 1362, and, in 1366, she 
married a third, James of Aragon, son of the King of Majorca. 
The house of Anjou had now three chief representatives : 
Giovanna at Naples, still of surpassing beauty, luxurious and 
splendid, not devoid of enlightenment, presiding over the gayest 
and most gorgeous court of Italy ; King Louis of Hungary, who 
was making his kingdom the most potent state in Europe, con- 
quering Moldavia in 1352 and Bulgaria in 1365 ; and the younger 
Charles of JJjura&zo (•* Carlo della Pace "), nephew of the Duke 
whom Louis had slain, and husband of Giovanna's niece, Mar- 
gherita, in the service of his Hungarian cousin, and himself 

3* 



FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 



uniting the claims of two branches of the royal house. In ( 370,^ 
Louis succeeded his maternal uncle, Casimir III, as King of 
Poland. To the Italians, who had seen the vengeance he had 
taken for his brother, and the stern justice with which he repressed 
the excesses of his own troops in Naples, he seemed a possible 
arbiter of the nation's destinies, more formidable than the 
Emperor himself. In their eyes, he was hardly more a foreigner 
than Queen Giovanna or the Visconti of Milan. It will seem 
perfectly natural to the Republic of Florence to appeal to him 
against the Pope, and to Catheri ne of Siena herself to look to him 
as the champion and de/ender of the Church. 

Between despot-ridden north and feudal south lay the f 
Republics of Tuscany and the nominal States of the Church, 

And here the great Guetf R epublic of Florence was still the 
dominant power. Excluded from the government by the famous [ 
Ordinances of Justice in 1293, the nobles (magnates or grandi) 
had been finally broken in the tremendous street battles of 1343. 
The power was mainly in the hands of the wealthy burghers, 
popoIawTgrassi, members of the greater Guilds ; but the smaller 
tradesmen and artisans, forming the minor Guilds, were gradually 
coming to the front, and sharing in the administration. Aai 
rumblinfysj?f social jjis content^ sound s from a still, lawci stratum 
ocjet y. were being heard in the b ack ground . The supreme 
magistracy of the Republic, the Signoria, consisted of the Gonfa- 
loniere of Justice and eight Priors of the Arts (instead of the six 
in Dante's days), two from each quarter of the city. These 
Signori held office for two months ; their nomination was by lot, 
and was controlled by a complicated process of scrutiny. Next 
came the two " Colleges," that is, the twelve Buonuomini, who 
were the counsellors of the Signoria, and the sixteen Gonfalonieri 
of the city companies, four from each quarter. All magnates, 
whether by birth or declared so as penalty, were excluded from 
the Signoria and the Colleges, whose members were all popolani> 
Florentine burghers and artisans, ascribed to the greater or minor 
Arts or Guilds. 

The executive, as in almost all Italian States of the epoch, was 

3 33 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 






represented by three alien magistrates : the Captain and the 
Podesta, both foreign (that is, from some other Italian state) 
nobles, and the Executor of Justice, who was normally a foreign 
burgher. There were two great Councils of the State ; the 
Council of the People, over which the Captain presided, and the 
Council of the Commune presided over by the Podesta. In the 
former, only popolani could sit, but grandi were also admitted to 
the latter. Measures proposed by the Signoria had first to be 
carried in the Colleges ; if they passed there, they were then 
submitted successively to the Council of the People and to the 
Council of the Commune, after which they became law. Tem- 
porary measures could, however, be concerted between the 
Signoria and a special meeting of richiesti, citizens summoned for 
the purpose, without an appeal to these councils ; and in theory, 
and now and then in practice, a general Parliament, open to all 
the citizens of Florence, was assembled. 

There was, however, in addition, another organization within 
the Republic, one which we shall find very closely associated with 
Catherine in her dealings with the Florentines. X|u s W as the 
Parte Guelfa^ with its six captains and two councils, originally 
founded in the latter part of the thirteenth century, to maintain 
Guelf principles in the State. And in this the magnates were 
predominant, three of the captains being elected from their number. 
Their power of u admonishing M persons obnoxious to them, as 
suspected " Ghibellines," thereby excluding them from office 
under heavy penalties, made them greatly dreaded — all the more 
as, now that nothing of Ghtbellinism remained but the name, this 
power was for the most part used to gratify personal feuds and to 
fan the flames of faction. 

In Siena, from the middle of the thirteenth century, there had 
been a more or less similar constitution of the Commune and of 
the People — but with the striking difference that the organization 
of the latter was not based upon the Arts or Guilds, which (with 
the exception of the two Merchant Guilds, the Arti di Mercanzia y 
and the Guild of Wool) were of little political importance, but 
upon the Socittafcs armorum^ the armed militia or train-bands of 



34 












the contrade^ or wards, into which the three terzi of the city were 
divided, 1 The Concilium Campanae^ or Council of the Bell, 
elected the executive officials of the State, as usual from out of 
the lesser nobles of other Italian cities : the Podesta , the chief 
judicial officer, and the Conservatore^ or Capitano di Guerra^ later 
called the Senator, who led the forces of the Republic in time of 
war. But the Captain of the People, in the fourteenth century, 
was always a Sienese plebeian. 

After the exclusion of the nobles or gentiluomini (milites) from 
the administration, in the third quarter of the thirteenth century, 
Siena had enjoyed a period of considerable prosperity under the 
oligarchical rule of the "good merchants of the G uelf par ty," the 
chief council or magistracy of the Nine. The Nine held office 
for two months, lived at the expense of the State, and (to the 
complete exclusion of the lower orders no less than of the nobles) 
were elected from the rich and enlightened burgher class, corre- 
sponding, more or less, to the popolani grassi of Florence. In 
Siena the orders that held sway successively were known as Monti, 
The adherents and families of this Mmie dei Nave are famous in 
Sienese history as the Noveschi. The epoch of their rule, when 
Siena gained the title of amorosa madre di dolcezza y is that pictured 
to us in those vivid little masterpieces, the sonnets of Folgore.da 
San Gimignano. Early in the fourteenth century, they* had pur- 
chased the port of Talamone, by which they hoped to make the 
Republic a great maritime power, even as Pisa in the past ; but 
the unhealthiness of the situation, and the impossibility of keeping 
the harbour clear, soon damped their ardour. The sanguinary 
6[eudg ) of the nobles— the Tolomei against the Salimbeni, the 
Malavolti against the Piccolo-mini, the Saracini against the Scotti 
— kept the State in chronic disturbance ; plots and tumults against 
the burgher oligarchy, usually hatched by a combination of nobles 



1 Cf. R. L. Douglas, History of Siena, pp. 108-114; E, Armstrong, The 
Stent te Statutes of 1262 (on L. Zdckauer'a great work, // Constitute del Comune di 
Siena dt //* anno 1262, Milan, 1897), in the Engftsh Historical Review t vol, xv., 
London, 1900; G. Caneatrini, Delia Mittxia Itahana dal seeoto XIII. al XV L % 
pp. xviii., xix. 

35 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and popolo minuto % threatened the administration ; while, in the 
contado, the Salimbeni were almost independent of the Republic, 
made their own alliances, and not unfrequently were united with 
the enemies of their fatherland 

The once mighty Republic of Pisa had sunk to a secondary 
position among the powers of Tuscany. To its destinies during 
the fourteenth century were united those of its neighbour, Lucca, 
which had been subjected to Pisan rule in 1342. Pisa was 
divided by the factions of the Bergolini and Raspanti ; the latter 
being expelled, the family of the Gambacorti swayed the Republic. 
Andrea di Gherardo Gambacorti held the chief authority until his 
death in 1351, when he was succeeded by his nephews, Francesco 
and Lotto. We shall find Andrea's son, Piero, among the friends 
and correspondents of Catherine, The rule of the Gambacorti 
was just, pacific, and beneficent— they were men of upright life 
and loyal to the Republic. 

With these four communes, Florence, Siena, Pisa, and Lucca, 
Catherine was to be closely connected. The remaining Tuscan 
republic, that of Arezzo, hardly touched her life at all It had 
already been subject to Florence from 1336 until 1343, and the 
days of its independence were numbered. 

To the south and east of Tuscany lay what were nominally 
the Papal States, in which, however, the always vague authority of 
the Church had sunk to a minimum. Of the cities included in 
them, some, such as Perugia, governed themselves as virtually 
independent republics ; others, such as Rimini and Forli, were in 
the hands of despots like the Mala testa and Ordelaffi, who ruled 
them either under the tide of papal vicars or with no tide but 
that conferred by the power of the sword and mercenary troops. 
The state of the Eternal City itself was peculiar, and was destined 
to affect all Christendom in the great struggle with which 
Catherine's closing days are associated. 

Overshadowed by the Popes and Emperors, the Roman 
Republic had still existed throughout the centuries, always in 
name and at intervals in fact, when, in Giovanni Villani's telling 
phrase, e* Roman i si levarono a romore e feciono popolo — ** the 

36 









FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 

Romans rose in tumult and established a popular government" 
4C The ancient people and government of Rome," writes Matteo, 
"was to all the world a mirror of constancy and incredible 
firmness, of upright and regulated living, and of every moral 
virtue. But those who at present possess the ruins of that 
famous city are, on the contrary, utterly fickle and inconstant, and 
without any shadow of moral virtues. With eager and excessive 
lightness, they often overturn their state, and, seeking liberty, 
they have found it, but have not known how to set it in order 
nor how to keep it." l The absence of the Popes, while weaken- 
ing the power of the nobles, gave a fresh impulse of life to the 
Republic, whose rights had been formally recognized by Clement V 
in 13 10. Revolution after revolution followed, until in May, 
1347, the humanist Cola di Rienzo, full of poetical and unpractical 
dreams of Rome's past, established li the Good Estate," declaring 
the cause of Rome that of the whole of Italy, and calling • in the 
Italian States to free themselves from their tyrants and to send 
representatives to a national parliament. The scheme fell to 
nothing, through the disposition of the times and the un worthi- 
ness of the man who proposed it. Rienzi fled in December, 
and passed more than two years of mystical contemplation among 
the Fraticelli in the Abruzzi. An epoch of anarchy followed — 
scarcely abating during the Jubilee of 1350, when, finding them- 
selves insulted and threatened, the papal legates put the city 
under an interdict. Sent by the Emperor as a prisoner to 
Avignon, Rienzi was reconciled to Innocent VI, and returned 
to Italy in the autumn of 1353, as the Pope's representative, 
to collaborate with the great Spanish cardinal in building up the 
fabric of the Church's temporal power — only to meet a shameful 
death on the steps of the Capitol. 

u The Capitol was yet stained with the blood of Rienzi," 
writes Gibbon, "when Charles the Fourth descended from the 
Alps to obtain the Italian and Imperial crowns." For a while, 

1 M. Villani, ir. 87* For these changes and counter-changes, see the admir- 
able essay by Pasquale Villari, // comunt <ii Roma mi medk evo % in Saggi storiti t 
critia\ Bologna, 1890. 

37 



^m 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Petrarca believed in him as Dante had believed in his grandfather 
— but was bitterly disillusioned* Crowned at Rome by the 
Cardinal of Ostia, on Easter Day, 1 3SSy he returned to Prague ; 
u with the crown which he had received without stroke of sword ; 
with the purse full of money, which he had brought empty ; but 
with little glory for virtuous deeds, and with great disgrace for the 
debasement of the Imperial Majesty.** 1 "Oh," exclaimed 
Petrarca, tC if thy grandfather and father met thee in the passage 
of the Alps, what thinkest thou they would say ? Emperor of the 
Romans in name, thou art in truth only the King of Bohemia." 2 

At Siena and at Pisa, the imperial passage was marked by a 
revolutionary outbreak and the overthrow of the oligarchical 
government. 

While on his way to Rome, the Sienese ambassador s, headed 
by Guccio Tolomei and Giovanni eft Agnolino Salimbeni, had 
sworn fidelity to the Emperor at Pisa on behalf of the Nine , and 
he had sworn in return to preserve the liberties of Siena, and to 
make the Nine his vicars. But when, on his arrival at the city in 
March, the nobles and populace rose together, clamouring 
■* Long life to the Emperor, and death to the Nine," the utmost 
that Charles would do for the unlucky magistrates was to refuse 
to surrender their persons to the fury of the mob. He received 
their abdication, forced them to renounce all the privileges he had 
granted them, and to annul the oath he had sworn to their 
ambassadors, while the populace were led by the younger nobles 
to sack their houses and drag their official chest through the city 
at the tail of an ass. The relations and adherents of the Nine 
hid themselves as best they could. No one would receive or 
speak with them. Their servants deserted them. The very 
priests and religious shrank from them as though they had the 
plague. 

The government was entirely reformed in^the interests of the 
lower middle classes, A new supreme magistracy of twelve 
popolaniy henceforth known as the Twelve, the Signori Dodici^ 

1 M. Villant, v. 54. 

a Dt Rebus FtimUiaribuj f Lib. XIX. cp, 12 (Fracassetti), 

38 






FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 



four from each terzo of the city, was appointed, holding office for 
two months, one of them to serve as Captain of the People 
and Gonfaloniere of Justice. There was at first a subsidiary 
council of ibjLnobles, to be known as the Collegio, who were not 
to reside with the Signoria in the Palace, but without whom the 
Twelve could undertake nothing of importance nor open letters 
that concerned the State. But at the beginning of June, after the 
Emperor had passed again through Siena on his return journey, 
Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni (the most weighty in counsel 
of all the Sienese nobles, and a man most loyal to the Republic, 
with whose family Catherine was to be so closely associated), him- 
self a member of the College, finding that this arrangement 
would not work, agreed with the Twelve to summon a general 
council in the Sala Grande of the Palace, at which the six nobles 
laid down their office and the College was abolished, 1 The 
government thus remained entirely in the hands of the Twelve 
and their adherents, known as the DoJicini y afterwards called the 
People of the Middle Number. The members of this new Monte 
(called, by Matteo Villani, of the^i jTiinuti mestier i ") came 
from the class of the petty tradesmen and small notaries. It 
11 formed a class intermediate between the order of the Noveschi 
and the lowest populace, and was composed for the most part of 
families which had become well-to-do by attending to trade and 
commerce, during that long period of prosperity that the Republic 
enjoyed under the oligarchical government of the Nine." 2 Their 
rule, however, proved the most corrupt and incompetent that 
Siena had ever endured, though they carried on an ultimately 
successful war against Perugia, and made attempts, partly by 
money, partly by hiring other mercenaries, to deal with the ever 
increasing scourge of the foreign companies that at intervals 
threatened the Sienese contado. 

In the meanwhile, at Pisa, an alarm that the Emperor intended 
to liberate Lucca, and an attempt to reconcile the rival factions of 
the Raspanti and Bergolini, had led to a popular rising against 

1 Crank a Santsr y coll. 1 48- 1 52, 

1 Grouanelli, note* to the Lrggtnda minore f p, 190. 

39 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

him, in which his Germans suffered heavily. Both factions were 
equally implicated ; but the Raspanti had gained the ear of the 
Emperor, and obtained the support of the imperial troops in 
executing vengeance upon their enemies. The houses of the 
Gambacorti were destroyed, and the heads of the family put on 
their trial for treason. Their innocence was manifest, but the 
imperial judges wrung a confession by torture. On May 28, the 
three brothers, Francesco, Lotto, and Bartolommeo Gambacorti, 
with four of their principal adherents, were beheaded in the 
Piazza degli Anziani of Pisa, solemnly protesting their innocence 
to the last, and for three days, at the Emperor's orders, their 
bodies were ignomimously exposed in the mingled blood and filth 
of the piazza. 1 Piero Gambacorti, with his friends and kindred, 
was banished from the city ; while Caesar went on his way, leaving 
an imperial vicar behind him, and the State of Pisa in the hands 
of the treacherous Raspanti, who, in 1365, with the aid of foreign 
mercenaries, made Giovanni dell 1 Agnello, an unscrupulous and 
worthless upstart, lord of the city, with the title of Doge, to 
which he added that of captain-general of Lucca. 

Cardinal Albomoz had come to Italy in the latter part of 
1 353* Temporizing with the Visconti, received enthusiastically 
by the Florentines and Sienese, welcomed even by the Perugians, 
he had begun by making war upon Giovanni di Vico, titular 
Prefect of Rome, the tyrant of Viterbo, Orvieto, Civita Vecchia, 
and other places in the Patrimony. Viterbo (henceforth the 
capital of the Patrimony), Orvieto, Assisi, S pole to, and other 
Umbrian cities were recovered for the Church, while Rienzi was 
playing out the last scene of his deplorable melodrama on the stage 
of the Capitol While Charles IV was receiving the imperial crown 
from the hands of the Cardinal of Ostia, the indefatigable Spaniard 
was carrying his victorious arms into the Marches, against the 
Malatesta of Rimini, Astorre Manfred! of Faenza, Francesco 
degli Ordelaffi of Forlt and Cesena. The petty despots were 
either expelled from their States or forced to act as papal vicars 

1 M. ViJIani, v. 3 I —33* 37 ; Cromra di PUa^ coll. 1 029-1 03 3 ; Cronica Sanejc, 
coll. 150, 152, 

40 



FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 



on the Cardinal's terms, who made his headquarters at Monte- 
fiascone as Rector of the Patrimony. Faenza, Cesena, and Forli 
were taken. Defeated in the open field by the papal forces, 
Galeotto Malatesta was compelled to enter into an alliance with 
the Church. 

An even more signal triumph was the recovery of Bologna. 
Hard pressed by the armies of Bernabo Visconti, Giovanni da 
Oleggio surrendered the city to Albornoz in March, 1360, and 
Bologna thus became subject to the direct dominion of the Holy 
See. The Cardinal's warlike nephew, Gomez Albornoz, was 
made governor. War between Bernabo and the Church followed ; 
Bologna was invested by the forces of the Visconti and again hard 
pressed, until in June, 136 I, Gomez Albornoz, with the aid of 
Galeotto and Malatesta Malatesta, completely defeated Bernabo's 
army on the banks of the Savena at San Rossillo. Thus was 
the work of recovering the temporalities of the Church practically 
accomplished, when, on September II, 1362, Innocent VI died 
at Avignon. 

A few years before his death, Innocent, at the advice of 
Albornoz (who had practically left the city alone, and had, perhaps, 
never entered its walls), had nominated a single foreigner (that is, 
not Roman) Senator of Rome, a kind of Podesta to hold office 
for six months — the first appointed being a Sienese noble, 
Raimondo de* Tolomei. This pleased the people, but about the 
same time (1360), taking advantage of the preoccupation of 
Albornoz with the affair of Bologna, they set up a popular 
government under seven Riformatori (in imitation of the Floren- 
tine Priors), popo la ni to hold office for three months. Nobles were 
excluded from the army as well as from the government — the 
popular forces of the Republic being reorganized, under the two 
Bandaresi (in imitation of the Gonfalonieri of the Companies in 
Florence) and four Antepo$iti % into a military guild, which was 
known as the Felix Societal Baletfrariorum et Pavesatorum Urbis, 
le ** happy society of the crossbowmen and shieldbearers of 
the City." The Bandaresi and Antcpositi sat in the special 
council of the city, with the Riformatori and the heads of the 

4i 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Rioni (the districts into which Rome is still divided). Later on, 
they formed, together with the Riformatori, the Signoria, which 
was called the Signoria of the Bandaresi. A force of three thousand 
well-armed plebeians waited on their biddings. It was their office 
to execute justice against powerful evildoers and refractory nobles, 
and all who should shelter criminals in their fortresses ; and they 
began their work with the most rigorous severity. " There is no 
prince or baron in the jurisdiction of the Roman People," writes 
the Florentine chronicler, u who is not terrified thereat and does 
not hold them in great dread, and who for fear does not obey the 
governors of Rome and their rulers." l Such was the Roman 
Signoria with which Catherine of Siena, at a critical epoch in her 
life, was to have to deal, And better had it fared with the Church, 
if it had been only the temporal lords of Rome who trembled 
before it I 

Amidst this turmoil of political faction and moral corruption, 
men and women arose who looked for righteousness ; flower sjf 
the spiritual life bloomed even in the bloodstained streets of Siena 
and on the arid desert of the seven hills of Rome. Catherine's 
work was, to some extent, anticipated by the Swedish princess, 
Birgkta (whom we now call St. Bridget), that flower of the north 
transplanted to the Eternal City, and by Giovanni Colombini, 
himself a Sienese. 

Giovanni di Pietro Colombini was a rich merchant, belonging to 
the order of the Noveschi, one who had himself sat in the Signoria 
of the Nine. He was absorbed in mercantile pursuits and in the 
acquisition of wealth, until one day, to soothe his irritation when 
dinner was not ready and he wished to return to the warehouse, 
his wife bade him read a volume of the lives of the Saints. He 
chanced upon the legend of St. Mary of Egypt, and was com- 
pletely converted by its perusal. Ajigther of the Noveschi, who 
had also been one of the Nine, FrancesoPdi Mino Vincenti, 
joined him, and the two consulted the pious Carthusian, Pietro 
Petroni, who bade them follow Christ in the most absolute 

1 M. Villani, ix. 87 ; Villari, op. ctL f pp. 234, 235 ; Grcgorovius, English 
cd., VI. part II. pp. 403, 404. 

, 42 









FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 

poverty. 1 This appears to have been in 135$, the year of the 
downfall of the Nine* A few years later, they carried out Pietro's 
counsels, placed their daughters in the Benedictine monastery of 
Sant a Bond a (of which the Abbess, Madonna Paola di Ser Ghino 
Foresj , was a sort of spiritual mother to this new movement^ and 
gave away all their possessions to religion and the poor — Giovanni 
first making adequate provision for Monna Biagia, his wife. 
Even as they had punished their former avarice with poverty, 
they sought for shame where they had once received honour ; and 
for two months, the time during which they had sat in the 
supreme magistracy ot the Nine, they performed all the menial 
work of the Palace, begging their food in the meanwhile through 
the streets. 

Disciples came to them, who were received and clothed with 
rags at the Madonna of the Campo, and initiated into the spirit 
of these new poverellt by public humiliation through the streets of 
Siena — which one young noble who joined them confessed that he 
found as bitter as death, 2 Among the earliest of these Gesuati (as 
they were afterwards called) was Tornmaso di Guelfaccio, one of 
the leading Noveschi, previously a man of soft and luxurious life, 
whom we shall meet again in Catherine's circle. Giovanni and_ 
Francesco then wandered over the Sienese contado, preaching 
Christ and Poverty, working everywhere a wonderful revival, 
stirring up a new life among the Franciscans and Dominicans 
themselves, who welcomed them with enthusiasm, especially at 
Asciano and Montalcino. Said a friar minor to Giovanni : u If 
religious will once more begin to speak only of God, the 
spirit of holy fervour will return among us, and we shall set 
the world on fire." 3 Banished from the Sienese dominions 
by the Twelve, they wandered to Arezzo, Citta di Castello, 

1 Pietro Pctroni died in 1361. A vision which he had upon his death-bed 
brought about the conversion of Boccaccio. Cf. Petrarca, Return Senilium, Lib, L 
ep. 5 ; Bartholomaeus Scncnsis, Vita B. Petri Petrom f III, t, 2, 11. 

f Cf* tetteredtlB. Giovanni Colombini, 87, the reception of Giovanni di NLccol6 
di Vcrdtm. 

* nu. y j 7. 

43 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and other Tuscan cities, converting sinners, enforcing reparation 
of fame and goods, heating feuds and factions, Pisa, too, gave 
them a glad welcome, and at length the Twelve, for very shame, 
revoked their sentence of banishment. Something of the mystical 
aroma of these days lingers yet in the letters of Giovanni and 
Francesco still preserved, and not the least pleasant feature in 
them is the beautiful and pathetic spiritual intercourse that still 
bound the former to his devoted wife, who, as she said, had 
prayed for rain, but had not quite expected such a flood. 

A very different figure is Birgitta, whose revelation on the 
death of Clement VI we have already heard. Born about the 
year 1303, the daughter of Birger, lord of Finstad, and Ingeborge, 
his wife (both of whom were connected with the reigning house 
of Sweden), Birgitta, when little more than a child, was married to 
Ulf Gudmarsson, a Swedish noble of royal blood, to whom she 
bore eight children, of whom Charles, the eldest of her five sons, 
and Catherine, the second of three daughters, will play a part in 
this history. Her married life was (save for the enforced 
marriage of her eldest daughter to an unworthy man) one of 
almost ideal happiness. Alike in her husband's castle of Ulfasa 
and in the court of Magnus II, King of Sweden and Norway, she 
wrought for Christ and the salvation of souls. At her request, 
her confessor, Matthias of Linkftping, translated the Pentateuch 
into Swedish. On their return from a pilgrimage to Compostela, 
Ulf Gudmarsson became a monk, in 1343, and died in the 
following year, Birgitta being with him at the last. 

Then the spirit of prophecy fell upon her, and the same 
mystical Voice spoke in the heart of the Swedish princess that the 
dyer's daughter of Siena was to hear a few years later. 1 The 
wonderful book of Revelations^ that Birgitta now began to dictate, 
is at once a spiritual autobiography, a collection of epistles, a 
record of graces and visions, a denunciation of the corruption of 
the times. It anticipates in many respects Catherine's political 
letters and her Dialogue alike. For a while, she returned to the 
court, as Mistress of the Palace, to preach repentance there ; a 
1 Revchthncs 5. Birgitfar, II. IO. 
44 



FROM DANTE TO SAINT CATHERINE 

little later she founded at Vadstena her order of the Holy Saviour, 
composed of women and men alike, each monastery containing 
two convents, the Abbess to be as the Virgin Mother in the 
midst of the Apostles* Then she looked southwards to Avignon 
and Rome, and the Voice spoke again in her heart, inspiring her 
with an eloquent letter to Pope Clement, rebuking him as " a 
lover of the flesh M for the cupidity and ambition that he suffered 
to flourish in the Church, urging him to be converted before it 
was too late. 1 At the end of 1349, she left her native land, and 
went, by Milan, Pavia, and Genoa, to Rome for the Jubilee. 

With Italy the rest of Birgitta's life was to be associated. At 
Farfa, whither she had fled with her company during the interdict, 
she was joined by her daughter — the tall, silent, golden-haired 
Catherine, unhappy and mysterious, a prey to depression and to 
fits of terror which were only too well-founded. While at Farfa, 
Catherine heard of the death of her husband. Returning to 
Rome, the Swedish ladies took up their residence first in the 
palace of the Pope's brother, Cardinal Hugues Roger de Beaufort, 
at San Lorenzo in Damaso, and afterwards in the house still 
shown (now a Carmelite convent) near the Campo de' Fiori. In 
the anarchy that followed the Jubilee, Catherine ran fearful risks 
at the hands of the lawless Roman barons who attempted to get 
possession of her. At last one of the Orsini, hearing that the 
Swedish ladies were to go to S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura on the 
Saint's feast, laid an ambush for them between the basilica and 
the gate, Converted by a miraculous blindness, the young baron 
became their most ardent protector, and through him they 
acquired the friendship and support of his house, and especially 
of Niccolo Orsini, the Count of Nolj ^ 

The desolation of the Eternal City struck deeply into 
Birgitta's soul, and inspired pages of pure eloquence not un- 
worthy of Petrarca himself A Voice ever cried in her heart : 
14 O Rome, Rome, thy walls are broken down ; thy gates are left 
unguarded ; thy vessels are sold and thy altars are desolate ; the 
living sacrifice and morning incense are consumed in the outer 

1 Revelations, VL 63, 
45 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



courts, and therefore the sweetest odour of sanctity rises no more 
from the Holy of Holies." But still she saw room for hope. 
" Rome is verily as thou hast seen/* said the Voice ; M the altars 
are desolate, the offertory is spent in the taverns, and they that 
offer serve the world rather than God, Know, nevertheless, that, 
from the time of Peter the humble even until Boniface ascended 
the seat of pride, innumerable souls have ascended to Heaven. 
Rome is still not without friends of God ; let them call upon the 
Lord, and He will have mercy upon them," l And again she 
heard the high command : * Thou shalt remain in Rome until 
thou seest the Pope and the Emperor, and thou shalt speak to 
them in My name the words that I shall tell thee.** So, with the 
exception of a pilgrimage to Assisi and the holy places of Naples, 
Birgitta remained in Rome, tending the sick in the hospitals, 
begging alms for the poor, labouring for the salvation of souls, 
while she waited for the promised advent of Pontiff and Emperor ; 
and, in the meanwhile, *' she had many revelations concerning the 
state of the City, in which our Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the 
excesses and the sins of its inhabitants, with grave threatening of 
chastisement. Which revelations, brought to the knowledge ot 
the inhabitants of Rome, stirred up furious hatred against the 
blessed Birgitta. Wherefore some of them threatened to burn 
her alive, and others blasphemed her as a sorceress ; but the 
blessed Birgitta patiently suffered their threats and insults." 2 

To this coming of Pope and Emperor the thoughts of all 
who looked for the salvation of Israel were soon to be directed ; 
yet was it to prove but the song that "bore false witness of 
dawn." 



1 Revtkthna, III. 27. 



2 Revelathna extravagant W, 8. 



CHAPTER III 



THE VALLEY OF LILIES 

«' Virgo sacra, jam »ammo doctore docente imo etiam compellente, additcebat quotidie 
amplius, et in lectulo Borido frui Sportsi cackstls ampLexibiii et ad convaUem liliorum 
descendere, Ut focctindior redderetur j net altcrum pro altero dimittcre aut diminuere," — 
Raimondo da Capua, Legend*, § 130. 

It was probably in 1366 that Catherine, the mystery of her 
spiritual espousals being fulfilled, began to go f orth fromher cell , 
to join in the life of the family, to labour fo r the conve rsion "of 
souls . The voice of the celestial Bridegroom sounded in her 
ears : Open to me y my sister \ my beloved^ my dove ; which Fra 
Raimondo Interprets : " Open for me the gates of souls that I 
may enter them. Open the path by which My sheep may pass 
in and out, and find pasture. Open for My honour thy treasury 
of divine grace and knowledge, and pour it forth upon the faith- 
ful. 1 * The gifts that she had received in the cell were now to 
be made manifest to the world. 

Once more, and this time in the face of vigorous opposition 
from her family, Catherine devoted herself to aU the humblest 
menial labours of the house, With her father's leave, she had 
full liberty to give as much as she thought fit of his substance to 
the poor. She tended the sick, in their houses and in the 
hospitals, day and night, and with the greatest zeal nursed those 
afflicted by the most loathsome diseases. From a poor woman 
named Cecca, dying of leprosy and deserted by all, who reviled 
and taunted her while she gave herself up to relieving the horror 
and loneliness of her last days, she took the dreadful malady, 
which spread over her hands ; but, when the woman at length 
died and Catherine had prepared the body for burial, she was 
miraculously healed. One of her own sisters in religion, Suora 
Palmerina, had been among her chief detractors, and persecuted 
her still with her hatred when on her death-bed ; converted at 
last by her prayers, Palmerina died in peace, and Catherine beheld 

47 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



her soul, which, * albeit it was not yet blessed, was so beautiful 
that no words could express/* And, all this while, her conversa- 
tion with the Divine Master and Spouse continued uninterrupted 
and increasingly ardent, although at times He came to her only in 
the guise of the beggar to whom she gave her cloak or the silver 
cross of her chaplet. ** Taught, nay, rather compelled by her 
supreme Teacher, she learned every day more and more both to 
enjoy the embraces of the celestial Bridegroom in the bed of 
flowers, and to descend into the valley of lilies to make herself 
more fruitful, nor ever to leave or lessen the one for the sake of 
the other/ 1 l 

I hough suffering intolerable pains in her whole frame, she 
impressed all who approached her by her constant mirthfulness, 
her never-failing high spirits, her radiant happiness. " She was 
always jocund and of a happy spirit," says one of her intimates, 
u and especially when held down by any sickness ; while that 
lasted, she was ever all laughing in the Lord and exultant and 
rejoicing/ 1 2 To those who criticized her almost entire abstinence 
from human food, she would answer humbly : M God for my sins 
has smitten me with a singular infirmity, by which I am totally 
prevented from taking food ; I would eat right willingly, but 
cannot. Pray for me that He may forgive me my sins, because 
of which I suffer every ill/' 3 

brum the beginning to the end of her life, Catherine desired 
to be subject to all, even to the servant in her father's house and 
the poor she encountered in the streets or in the hospital. She, 
ID all sincerity, regarded herself as the vilest of creatures^ and 
desired to be treated as such ; again and again, we shall find her 
asserting that her sins are the cause of all the evil around her, and 
almost that she alone is responsible for all the corruption of the 
world, She would fain have her faults judged by comparison 
with the graces she received. M If I were perfectly inflamed by 
the fire of Divine Love," she said once to Fra Raimondo, ** and 



* Iqrufc, H. it. 4 (§ 130). 

1 Conttstano Fr. TJbmtf C*f*ri*i, Pr*tssus> col. 

» £<pr«*t II. v. 9 (§ "74). 
48 









us* 



THE VALLEY OF LILIES 



besought my Creator with ardent heart, would not He who is all 
merciful surely use mercy towards all these, and grant them all 
to be enkindled by the fire which would then be in me ? And 
what is it that impedes such great good ? Surely nought else 
but my sins. The fault cannot be on the side of the Creator, in 
whom there is no defect ; it must, therefore, be in me and from 
When I consider how many and what great graces the 



me 



Lord has so mercifully granted me, in order that I might become 
such as I have said, and still through my iniquities I am not such, 
which is clearly shown me in the evils that I see, I am wroth 
against myself and bewail my sins, albeit for this I do not despair, 
but always hope the more that He may pardon me and them," l 

There were times, indeed, when she suffered much, need- 
lessly, through this humility. Although bound by no vows 
(for the Dominican tertiaries did not then take the vows of 
Chastity, Poverty, and Obedience, even if there were many who, 
like herself, practised them in the highest degree), Catherine had 
resolved to render the most absolute obedience to the friar who, 
according to the time, was the director of the Mantellate and to 
their prioress, as also to her own confessor. And Raimondo tells 
us that she persevered so rigidly in this resolution that, as she 
lay dying, with all her tendency to self-accusation, she could not 
remember that she had ever even once not kept it. Indeed, he 
writes, M if this holy virgin had never had any other affliction while 
she lived, than what her very indiscreet directors inflicted upon 
her, she would, in some sort, have been a martyr by reason of her 
great patience. For they, in no wise understanding, and often 
not even believing the excellence of the gifts granted her from 
above, wished entirely to guide her along the road of the others 
who live in ordinary fashion, nor did they render honour to the 
presence of the Divine Majesty which was leading her by a 
wondrous way, albeit of that they continually saw the manifest 
signs ; like unto the Pharisees, who in such wise, seeing signs and 
prodigies, murmured at the healings which the Lord worked on 




1 Legtnda, Prologue I. (§ 1 3). 

49 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



IS 



not of God, because he 



the Sabbath, saying : This man 
keepeth not the sabbath day," * 

Almost from the beginning, persecution had come upon her, 
of a more material kind than the assaults of the evil spirits in her 
visions, and it lasted all through the earlier years of her public 
ministry. The persons to whom she had thus made herself 
spiritually subject, and especially the women, misliked her mode 
of life and distrusted her conduct. " She could hardly exercise 
an act of devotion in public, without suffering calumnies, impedi- 
ments, and persecutions, particularly from those who ought most 
to have protected her and even to have continually encouraged her 
in those very acts.*' Not only Suora Palmerina, but others of 
the Mantellate, her sisters in religion, reviled and slandered her, 
and called upon their superiors to correct her. They even gained 
over some of the Dominican friars to their side, who refused to 
have any dealings with her, often deprived her of the Blessed 
Sacrament in Communion, and even for a while took away her 
faithful confessor from her. At times, when they condescended 
to let her communicate in their church, they would insist upon 
her straightway leaving off her prayers of thanksgiving and going 
home ; which was a sheer impossibility for Catherine, as she used 
to communicate with such fervour that, immediately afterwards, 
she would pass into the state of ecstasy, in which for hours she 
would be totally unconscious. On one occasion, finding her in 
this condition, they forcibly threw her out of the church at mid* 
day, and left her in the heat of the sun, watched over by some of 
her companions, until she came to her senses. One friar even 
brutally kicked her as she lay helpless. Of course we are told 
that he came to an evil end, as also did another friar of the same 
type, " religious in habit, but not in deeds," who, when the other 
friars were in the choir of San Domenico after dinner, catching 
sight of her in the church when she was in ecstasy, came down 
and pricked her in many places with a needle. Catherine was 
not aroused in the least from her trance, but afterwards, when 






1 Legenda, I. Is, i (§ 80). 
50 



THE VALLEY OF LILIES 

she came back to her senses, she felt the pain in her body and 
perceived that she had been thus wounded, 1 

But all these things Catherine bore with her usual unalterable 
patience and humility* They did it all with holy intention and 
for the good of her soul, she said, and she ever prayed for her 
assailants as for kind and beloved benefactors. No complaint 
ever crossed her lips, even when a friar robbed her of the money 
she had for the poor. u On her tongue and in her heart she had 
nought save Jesus ; along the streets she walked with Jesus ; her 
eyes gazed fixedly upon Jesus, nor did they ever open through 
curiosity to behold other objects, unless they were such that 
could guide her to Jesus ; wherefore she was often seen rapt in 
ecstasy, and lifted up in wondrous abstraction and excess of 
mind/ 1 Later, when she was told that men called her a hypocrite 
and deceiver, she answered : " They speak sooth, for, if the 
world knew me, it would stone me. I am the greatest of all 
sinners ; and what remains but that you all pray for me, that 
God may illumine me, and bring me to humility and patience and 
to do penance for my sins ? Would that I could embrace and 
kiss the feet of those who know me so well ! " 2 

Hardest of all was it to bear when they deprived her of the 
Blessed Sacrament, Whenever she could, she communicated every 
day; not only was this the centre of her whole inner life, but her 
very bodily existence seemed to depend upon it. So great was 
her inflamed desire of being united to her celestial Bridegroom in 
this way, that it was physical, no less than mental agony, to be thus 
deprived of His embraces. " I am a miserable wretch," we find 
her writing to one of her friars, u for my sins are so manifold 
that, since you went away, I have never been worthy to receive 
the most sweet and venerable Sacrament. I tell you this in order 
that you may help me to weep, and pray that I may be aided, so 
that I may receive the fullness of grace. Pardon my ignorance, 
father, and remember me at your most holy Mass, and I will 

1 Ltgtnda, III. v\. 12, 13 (§§ 406,407) ; Contestant) Fr. Simonis dt Corfona 
(Casarutcme MS.), pp. 514, 515. 

51 Tantucci, p. 38 ; Contatatk Fr. Barotitis, MS. at., pp. 509, 510, 

si 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

receive the sweet body of the Son of God spiritually from you/ 1 1 
And not only her enemies, but even her confessor seemed against 
her. Sometimes Fra Tommaso himself bade her, under the duty 
of obedience, to mistrust her visions, to regulate her life more 
like those of others in order to avoid scandal, to force herself to 
eat. Humbly and patiently, she always obeyed him to the letter, 
and found the agony caused her by the attempt to eat and drink 
a new way of doing penance, " Let us go and execute this 
wretched sinner," she would say with a smile when the time came, 
and, though she simply masticated what little she took without 
swallowing any, the pain was so intolerable that, in after years, 
Fra Raimondo urged her not to continue the attempt, in spite of 
what was said. Nevertheless, she persevered in this until her 
last illness, though the torment it caused her grew almost daily 
more terrible and acute. 

Friends and disciples, of both sexes, now began to gather 
round her. Her little cell in her father's house b ecame a cent re 
of religi ous life^ an ever-burning spiritual lamp to all in Siena 
who looked for righteousness. 

A little group of Mantellate became her constant companions. 
Chief among them were the two we still see supporting her in 
Bazzi's glorious fresco : Alessa Saracini and Cecca (Francesca) 
Gori ; both widows of noble birth, who had given all their 
possessions to the poor, and taken the black and white habit of 
penance. The latter, an older woman, had three sons in the 
Dominican order, probably very young novices. Of the former, 
Fra Raimondo writes that, although she became her disciple later 
in time than some of the others, she was nevertheless, in his 
opinion, the first in perfection and Catherine's most faithful 
imitator. Both appear to have been educated women, and to 
have frequently written Catherine's letters for her. Closely 
associated with these was the Saint's beloved sister-in-law, Lisa, 
41 my sister-in-law, according to the flesh, but my sister in Christ," 
the wife of her brother Bartolommeo— all the members of Jacomo 
di Benincasa's family then living under his roof. Her own sister 

* Letter 70 (114), 

5* 



THE VALLEY OF LILIES 



Lisa, too, seems to have taken the habit. Another of the first of 
her companions was a certain Caterina di Ghetto (or Scetto), 
possibly the daughter of one of the Saint's brothers-in-law, one of 
the young unmarried women who, in imitation of Catherine, 
joined the Dominican tertiaries. 

The earliest of Catherine's men followers were two young 
Dominicans : Fra Tommaso di Antonio Nacci Caffarini, a 
novice, then about seventeen years old, and Fra Bartolommeo di 
Domenico, who was slightly older and already a priest, and had 
been a companion in the novitiate with Fra Tommaso della 
Fonte, Next to Fra Raimondo, we owe most of our information 
about Catherine to the devotion of these two friars. It is 
possible that their first introduction to her, by Fra Tommaso 
della Fonte, was during the time of her strict seclusion and 
retreat in her cell, which still remained the centre of the spiritual 
life of all her fellowship. 

Fra Bartolommeo gives us a detailed description of that cell, 
before she came out of it, while she conversed with no men save 
at the command or by the permission of her confessor. We see 
its door and window always closed, the hard couch of bare boards, 
the little lamps always burning day and night before the images 
of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of the Saints which were 
painted there. 1 In words that curiously recall those of the Vita 
Nuova> but much less poetically and more crudely expressed, he 
tells us how — although he, too, was young, and evidently 
morbidly sensitive on this point — all carnal passion died away 
when he approached her, and that others, whose normal mode of 
thinking and feeling was quite alien from his own, had the same 
experience : " For her aspect and address seemed to pour forth 
a certain fragrance of purity, more angelical than human, and 
withal she was always joyful and merry of countenance." Even 
so had it been with Dante, when he went to behold the nobili e 
laudabili portamenti of Beatrice : " And albeit her image, which 
kept continually with me, was a power of Love to rule over me, 

1 Cwte static Fr. BarthrJomaei, Processus, col. 1312. 

53 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



it was, nevertheless, of so noble a virtue that it never suffered 
Love to sway me without the faithful counsel of reason/ 11 

Nevertheless, there were certain things that Bartolommeo at 
first found hard to accept. He noticed that, when she returned 
to consciousness after her prolonged ecstasies, Catherine always 
seemed to know what her women companions had done in the 
meanwhile, and sometimes rebuked them for idle talk or waste 
of time. The friar, "in my stupidity, being as yet ignorant ot 
the virtues of the holy virgin/' could not at once believe that she 
did this by what he calls the prophetic spirit : — 

" But, at that time, when once I came to her cell with her 
aforesaid confessor, after a long conversation she asked us what 
we were doing at the second and third hour of the night. But 
we, wishing to try her, said, questioning her: *What dost thou 
think ? ' And she answered : * Who knows this better than you 
yourselves ? ' Then her confessor rejoined, at my suggestion : 
c I charge thee, on thy obedience, tell us if thou knowest what 
we were doing at that time.' But she humbly refused to do 
this, until her confessor charged her again on her obedience. 
Then, humbly bowing down her head, she said : * You know 
well that there were four of you, and you were in the cell of the 
subprior, talking for a long while at that late hour/ We asked 
her who they were, and she named each ; and when we asked her 
what we said, she replied that, for the most part, we talked about 
things pertaining to the salvation of our souls, albeit at times we 
touched on other matters. I was amazed, but still doubted 
whether one of us four had not told her this. Wishing, therefore, 
to test whether she knew this by man or by the spirit of prophecy, 
1 came to her on the following day, and in our conversation said : 
'O mother' (for so we were wont to call her), * how knowest thou 
what we do ? * And she : c O son, since it has pleased our sweet 
Saviour to give me the sons and daughters which, by His gift, I 
have, nothing concerning you is hidden from me ; but He 
showeth me clearly everything that is done about them/ Then 
I rejoined : * Thou knowest, then, what I was doing yesterday 
1 Cf. Cmttstatio at. 9 col 13 14, with Vita Nuova, §§ 2 and 19. 

54 



THE VALLEY OF LILIES 



evening at such an hour of the night ? ' And she answered me : 
■ Surely, for you were writing, and you were writing about such 
a matter/ All of which was so. And she added : * Son, I 
always watch and pray for you, my children, and for others, until 
in your convent the bell rings for matins, and shows me what you 
are doing ; nay, if you had good eyes, you would see me with you 
— as clearly as I see all and each of you, who you are, where you 
are, and what you are doing. Very often our sweet Saviour bears 
me company, while I say the Psalms and walk up and down this 
little cell, and He talks with me, instructing me about many 
things. But when He sees me wearied, He sits over there, and 
at His bidding I sit at His feet, and we talk together up to that 
hour. But when that hour comes, He gives me leave to sleep, 
saying : Go, daughter, and rest, whilst thy brethren, who are now 
rising to matins, praise IVIe in thy stead. And so I sleep. Then, 
after a brief while of slumber, I straightway rise/ M 1 

At first, Bartolommeo was not edified by her calling herself 
misera y miserahile, more wretched than all men, the cause of all the 
evils that were done. He thought she did not really mean what 
she said ; until, to his question how this could be, as she mani- 
festly abhorred the sins that many delighted daily to commit, she 
answered as she did later on to Fra Raimondo : " O father^ I see 
you do not know my wretched state. For I, miserable woman, 
have received so many and such wondrous gifts from my Creator, 
that, as I think, there is no reprobate so vile that, if he had 
received such, would not be all aflame and burn with the love of 
his Creator. And, both by the example of his life and by the 
words of his teaching, he would so enkindle the hearts of men to 
the love of our celestial country and to the contempt of the 
present life, that they would cease from their sins. Since there- 
fore I, wretched woman, endowed with so many gifts, do not do 
this, what can 1 in very truth say about myself, but that I am 
most ungrateful to my God, and that I am the cause of the ruin 
of all, who through me could be called back from evil and incited 
to good ? If I did my duty, I should call them back by the food 
1 Contestotio tit., coll. 1320, 1311. 

55 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



ot God's word, and animate them to act rightly by the example 
of a good life ; and, because I have not done this as I might, 
surely I am guilty," l 

These were Bartolommeo's last doubts. He became her 
most ardent follower and champion, and frequently acted as her 
confessor and that of all her spiritual company. A certain 
Franciscan friar, Fra Lazzarino of Pisa, was one of the first who 
followed him to her feet. An eloquent and popular preacher, a 
man of considerable learning, though by no means an exemplary 
Franciscan as far as his vow of poverty was concerned, Lazzarino 
was at that time lecturing on philosophy at Siena. He hated the 
very name of Catherine, abused her both in public and in private, 
and persecuted her friends. Knowing the devotion to her of Fra 
Bartolommeo, who was then lecturing occasionally on the Sentences 
of Peter the Lombard, he tried to make him unpopular with the 
students. Finding all his efforts against Catherine's reputation 
were useless, he began to preach publicly against her, and, when 
that failed, decided to visit her, under pretence of devotion, in 
order to catch her in her speech. With this intention, he came 
on the evening of the feast of St, Catherine, Virgin and Martyr, 
to Bartolommeo' s cell, and asked him to bring him to her ; and 
the Dominican, thinking his heart was touched, with leave of 
Fra Tommaso della Fonte, accompanied him to the house. Let 
Bartolommeo himself relate what followed : — 

" When we entered her holy cell, Fra Lazzarino sat down 
upon a stool ; she seated herself at his feet upon the floor, while 
I took a seat apart on the opposite side. Both kept silence for a 
while. At length he began : * I have heard such good report of thy 
holiness and that thou art endowed by the Lord with the under- 
standing of the Scriptures, that I have come to thee, hoping to 
hear somewhat to edify and comfort my soul.' But she answered : 
* I am glad at your coming, for 1 believe the Lord has sent you 
in order that you, who have the knowledge of the holy Scriptures 
with which you daily feed the souls of the people, may be moved 
by charity to comfort my poor little soul ; and so, for the love 
3 Cmestatio r/V.» call. 1346, 1347. 

56 






THE VALLEY OF LILIES 

of Jesus Christ, I pray you deign to do.' When, therefore, the 
time had passed in such conversation and night was at hand, he 
(not, indeed, mocking her, as he had thought to do, but neverthe- 
less, in his heart, making little account of her) said : * I see the 
hour is late, and therefore deem 1 had better go ; I will return 
on another occasion at a more suitable hour/ And so he rose up 
to go. But, as he went away, the holy virgin followed him, and, 
kneeling with crossed arms, besought him to bless her ; which he 
did* And, when she had his blessing, she besought him to 
remember her in his prayers* Then he, moved rather by shame- 
facedness than hy devotion, asked her to pray for him, which she 
gladly promised she would do* He, therefore, went away, as I 
said, making small account of her, deeming her to be a good 
woman, but not worthy of her great reputation/' 

During the following night, Lazzarino rose to meditate upon 
the lecture which he was to deliver the next morning, and found 
himself overwhelmed by a flood of tears, which he was unable to 
check. In the morning, he forced himself to go to the schools 
and read his lecture perfunctorily, at once leaving the room when 
he had finished, because he could not contain his tears. So passed 
the day,until,in the night, he began to think that he had unwittingly 
offended God. Then a voice spoke in his heart : ** Hast thou 
so soon forgotten that, the day before, thou didst scorn My 
faithful handmaid Catherine with so orgulous a mind, and that, 
albeit feignedly, thou didst nevertheless commend thyself to her 
prayers?" Before sunrise, he left San Francesco and hastened 
to Catherine's house, Catherine herself, "not ignorant of the 
things that were being worked in this man by her Spouse," 
opened the door. He fell at her feet ; she knelt and implored him 
to rise. Entering the cell, he humbly sat down like her on the 
floor, and, after u n long and holy colloquy," besought her to 
adopt him as a son, and to direct him in the way of God. ** But 
when she said that he knew the way of God better, by means 
of the holy Scriptures, he answered that he knew the rind, but 
she tasted the very pith. At length, constrained by his earnest 
she answered : * The way of salvation for your soul is 

57 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

that, despising the pomp of the world and all its favour, casting 
away all money and superfluities, you follow Christ crucified and 
your father, Blessed Francis, in nakedness and humility/ " 

Fra Lazzarino seemed changed into another man. He gave 
away all he had, even his books, excepting a commentary on the 
Gospels which he needed for his sermons, " and became really a 
true poor man of Christ." He became a zealous champion ot 
Catherine's cause, and endured much persecution in consequence, 
especially from his own brethren, but triumphed over all and 
devoted himself to the conversion of souls. One of his fellow 
Franciscans tells us that he fled the society of the other friars to 
live in lonely hermitages, from which he would emerge at times 
to preach to the people, and that on these occasions his words 
were like flaming arrows to pierce the hearts of all who heard. 1 

Although Bartolommeo says that he became valde domestitus 
with himself, Lazzarin o — perhaps because of his membership ot 
the rival order — does not seem ever to have been closely associated 
with Catherine's spiritual family. We have, however, a dictated 
letter from Catherine to him, undated, but probably of a some™ 
what later epoch, a letter in which the Dominican tertiary, too, 
claims the seraphic Father of Assisi as hers :— 

* c Jesus hangs upon the Cross," she writes, ** as our rule and 
our way, and as a written book in which all the unlearned and 
blind can read. The first verse of the book is hate and love ; 
that is, love of the honour of the Father, and hatred of sin. 
Then, most beloved and dearest brother, and father by our 
reverence for the Sacrament, let us follow this sweet book, that 
so sweetly shows us the way. And if it befall that our three 
foes should assail us in the way, to wit, the world, the flesh, and 
the devil, let us take the weapons of hate, as did our father, St 
Francis. In order that the world should not puflF him up, he 
chose holy, true, and utter poverty. And so would I have us 
do. And if the demon of the flesh should rebel against the 
spirit, let us be angry with ourselves, and afflict and chastise our 

1 Conttstath ri/., colt. 1 347-1 351 ; Contatatle Fr. Jngtli de Sahettis (O.F.M.), 
be, dfcp col. 1367. 

58 



THE VALLEY OF LILIES 

body ; even as that father of ours did, who ever ran along this 
holy way with zeal and not with negligence. And if the devil 
should come with many illusions and varied fantasies and with 
servile fear, and wish to occupy our mind and soul, let us not 
be afraid ; for these things are become powerless by the virtue 
of the Cross. O sweetest Love ! They can do no more than 
God allows them ; and God wills nought else than our good ; 
He will not, therefore, give us more than we can bear. Take 
comfort, take comfort ; and do not shun pain ; but ever keep 
the will holy, so that it may repose in nought save in what Christ 
loved and in what God hated. 1 And our will, so armed with 
hate and love, will receive such fortitude that, as St. Paul says, 
neither the world nor the devil nor the flesh will be able to draw 
us back from this way. Let us bear, let us bear, dearest brother ; 
for the more pain we bear down here with Christ crucified, the 
more glory shall we receive ; and no pain will be so much re- 
warded, as mental pain and labour of the heart ; for these are 
the greatest pains of all, and, therefore, are worthy of greater 
fruit/ 1 2 

It is somewliat remarkable that Catherine seems never to 
have had any dealings with Giovanni ColombinL Although she 
frequently visited the monastery of Santa Bonda in the company 
of Lisa, and corresponded with two of the nuns there, she never 
makes any allusion to Giovanni in her letters. A cousin of his, 
however, Matteo Colombini, was among her correspondents, and 
Tommaso di Guelfaccio, whom we have met among the Gesuati, 
seems to have been one of the first to frequent her cell, and was 
afterwards, to some extent, associated with her labours. 

1 That 11, keep the will steadfast in love of virtue and hatred of vice. 
1 Letter 225 (121). This letter was probably in answer to one of Lazzarino's 
to her, of which a mutilated fragment is preserved in the Bibllotcca Comunale of 
Siena (MS. T. iii. 3), in which, as far as any connected sense can be nude out of 
:» left, he appears to be complaining of the persecution he is receiving from 
his fellow Franciscans. It is dated "in Firenzc lo dl dela pentecoste," and ad- 
to "Chaterina da Siena sposa di Jeso Cristo crocifixo ct serva dc iuo servi 
: nudre dc suo fedeli devoti, in Pisa." Both letters are probably of the year 
<J7S- 

59 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

While the spiritual household of his daughter was thus being 
formed, Jacomo di Benincasa died. He had always been a tender 
and loving father, especially in these latter years, and Catherine 
"found his soul ready for the passage, nor kept back by any 
desire of the present life, for which thing she rendered immense 
thanks to her Saviour/* In after years, she told Fra Raimondo 
that she had wrestled with the Lord in prayer that her father 
might not have to sustain the pains of Purgatory, and had at 
last obtained this grace for him, on the condition that she should 
bear them instead. At the instant he passed away, a grievous pain 
in the side assailed her, and never again left her until the end of 
her life : ** But, as he expired, the holy virgin laughed for joy, 
saying : * Blessed be the Lord, would that I were as you ; ' nor, 
whilst the others wept during the rites for the dead, could she 
show aught else save joy and gladness. She comforted her 
mother and the others, as though she was in no wise concerned 
at this death, for she had seen that soul pass out of the darkness 
of the body and enter immediately into the eternal light." l 

Jacomo di Benincasa was buried at San Domenico on August 
22, 1368. A man of the old regime, he died but a few weeks 
before the overthrow of his party in the State, which was also to 
reduce his own family to comparative poverty. A year before 
his death, a great event had filled all who looked for righteous- 
ness with hopes of a new era and renovation of the Church ; 
hopes that Jacomo was not to see dashed to the ground ; a 
Sovereign Pontiff had landed in Italy, and the successor of St. 
Peter had returned to Rome. 

1 Legend^ II. vii, 4 (§ § 220-122). 



60 



CHAPTER IV 
THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 

11 Tu e* qui veoturui cs r an alium expccUmut"? — Matth, xu 3, 
«<Coiui che fece per viki lo gran rifiuto."— Dante, IhJ, Hi. 59, 60, 

Guillaume deGrimoard, Abbot of St. Victor of Marseilles, 
was at Florence, on his way to Naples on a mission from the 
Pope to Queen Giovanna, when the news reached Italy that 
Innocent VI was dead* u I dare to say," quoth the worthy monk, 
when he heard the tidings, (C that if, by the grace of God, I were 
to see a Pope who would come to Italy, to the true papal seat, 
and would beat down the tyrants, I should be happy, if I had to 
die the next day/' l On his return from Naples, he arrived at 
Marseilles at the end of October, 1362, to be met by a message 
from the Sacred College informing him that (owing to a 
deadlock in the conclave) he had been elected Pope, He was 
crowned at Avignon, under the title of Urban the Fifth* 

The newly elected Pontiff was fifty-three years old, Never 
having been a cardinal, he was untainted by the corruption of the 
Curia. A man of simple and blameless life, learned and devout, 
he hated pomp and luxury, abominated simony and nepotism and 
all the vices he saw around him. His choice of a name, Urban y 
was held by the Italians to point towards Rome. 2 In the preced- 
ing year, he had been sent as ambassador to Bernabo Visconti, 
to urge the rights of the Church upon Bologna ; the tyrant, in 
one of his outbursts of bestial fury, had forced him to eat the 
fragments of the papal brief and driven him with contumely 
from Milan, according to one account with even grosser personal 
outrage. He knew then, by personal experience, what these 
tyrants of Italy were like. When Bernabo's ambassadors arrived 
to congratulate him on his election and to express their master's 

1 M. ViiUni, xi. i& 

8 Cf. Petrarca, Rerum Smilium, Lib. VII, ep. L 
6l 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



desire to come to terms, the Pope gravely answered that, when 
their lord had restored her cities to the Holy See and repented of 
his crimes, he would receive him back into the bosom of the 
Church. 1 His intention was to crush this chief despot first, and 
then send all Christendom forth to rec over the H oly Pla ces. But 
the realization of the scheme was impossible. Wars raged every- 
where. France was at war with England, the Emperor on the 
point of hostilities with the King of Hungary, who in his turn 
was assailing the Venetians. Italy clung to her state of anarchy. 
Siena fought Perugia for the possession of Cortona and Monte- 
pulciano ; Florence, with mercenaries under Galeotto Malatesta, 
made war on Pisa with mercenaries under Sir John Hawkwood. 
A general league against Bernabo effected little, and, in 1364, a 
peace was signed at Milan by which Bologna was left in the hands 
of the Church, but the Pope weakly consented to remove 
Albornoz to the southern legation. 

Jfc Each peace, whether in France or in Italy, set loose fresh 
hordes of mercenaries, who moved over the lands almost 
unchecked, so admirably organized as to deserve the description 
that Gregorovius gives them, of a errant military states." In vain 
did Urban publish bull after buU, hurling anathemas at the 
companies and their leaders. The condottieri mocked at Rome's 
thunders. In the latter part of 1365, Duguesclin, on his way to 
Spain, besieged the Pope himself in Avignon, compelling him to 
pay an enormous ransom, and to absolve him and his followers 
from all censures. 

It was, perhaps, this humiliation that induced Urban to carry 
out his old resolution of returning to Rome, to which the Romans 
had invited him at the beginning of his pontificate. The 
exhortations of the royal Spanish Franciscan, Peter of Aragon, 
who came to Avignon full of an impassionecf dream of the 
reformation of the Church, no less than the eloquent appeal of 
Petrarca, made a deep impression on the Pope. The Emperor 
was favourable, and Albornoz urged him to make no delay. In 

1 M. Villani, xi. 31, 32. Cf, Diarto tfAnonmoFhrMtinQ (edited by Ghcrardi), 
p. 296, 

6a 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 



spite of the opposition ot the King of France, Urban left 
Avignon on April 30, 1367, and, on June 4, he landed at 
Corneto, where a great throng of nobles and envoys from almost 
every 7 State of Italy was waiting to receive him, headed by Albor- 
noz himself and Birgitta's friend, the Count of Nola, In the 
midst of all this glittering show were Giovanni Colombini and 
Francesco Vincenti, with some sixty of their poverelli % clad in the 
most amazing rags. They had accompanied Albornoz from 
Viterbo, had invaded the Franciscan convent in which Urban was 
to stay, insisting upon making his bed, and those of the cardinals, 
and now, crowned with olive and carrying branches in their 
hands, they rushed madly to and fro, cheering frantically for Christ 
and the Pope. H It was the most lovely and devout thing that 
was ever seen," wrote Giovanni to the Abbess of Santa Bonda. 
They were accused of heresy, like that of the Fraticelli, the /rati 
ddla povera vita f of whom there were many in Tuscany ; but 
the Pope's brother, the " Cardinal of Avignon, 1 ' Anglico de 
Grimoard, " who is like a lamb, 1 ' and the papal secretary, 
Petrarca*s friend Francesco Bruni, took them under their pro- 
tection, and promised to befriend them with the Sovereign 
Pontiff. 

At Corneto the Pope stayed for Whitsuntide, and received an 
embassy from the Romans, who conferred the full dominion of 
the City upon him, and gave him the keys of Sant' Angelo. 
Then he moved on to Toscanella, the poverelli running round 
him all the way. Urban bore it all with exemplary patience, but, 
when he got to his lodging, he sent for Francesco and told him 
he did not like their rags, but would clothe them in grey habits 
and white hoods at his own expense — whereat the u poor little 
men " sang psalms of praise. 

The Pope entered Viterbo in state on June 9, 1367, '* with 
such grace and exultation that it seemed the very stones would 
cry : Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Here 
he took up his abode in the great fortress that Albornoz had 
built, and received the lords of the Italian cities that acknow- 
ledged his sway and the ambassadors of the Republics. To the 

63 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENi 



unsophisticated eyes of Giovanni and Francesco, everything seemed 
ideal. ** This Holy Father/' they wrote to the Abbess and nuns 
of Santa Bonda, "is considered a good man, and we believe that 
God through him is working good and holy things. He has a 
brother who seems to us most holy and a good servant of God 
and right humble, and who keeps up his state unwillingly ; he 
loves us right well ; may Christ reward him and give him His 
grace. Think, Madonna and our mothers, that here is all the 
nobility of the world, with pomps and delights and goodly robes 
and lordship, and all lovely things and great are here. But, all 
the same, never was Poverty so dear to us as now, and never did 
she please us so/* They were profoundly edified even by the 
papal courtiers. u You could not imagine how much virtue we 
find in these cardinals and in these great lords and many others, 
so much so that we are confounded at what they do. They have 
more humility in their great estate and in their vast wealth than 
we, poor and proud, in our vile and abject condition ; we make 
the show, and they do the deeds." Cardinal Anglico gave them 
a rule of life, u which pleases us much, and, with the grace of 
God, will please all, for it is the true way of salvation/ 1 1 But 
they would accept no bulls or privileges of any kind from the 
Pope. Their friend, the Bishop of Citti di Castello, said to 
them : "Let virtues defend you, and not papal bulls." 

With their order now confirmed, the seventy or more poverel/i 
having doffed their rags and put on the new white and grey papal 
habit, Giovanni and Francesco left Viterbo towards the end of 
July. At Acquapendente, Giovanni fell ill. They tried to bring 
him back to Santa Bonda, but he died on the way at the abbey 
of San Sal va tore on Monte Amiata, on the last day of July, 
1367, He was buried in the church of the monastery of Santa 
Bonda. Fifteen days later, Francesco Vincenti followed him 
into the other world. Their order of the Gesuati, white-hooded 
and grey-gowned, lives now only on the canvasses of the painters 
of their native city. 

One anxiety had clouded the last days of Giovanni's stay at 
1 Ltttcrt dtl B. Giovanni Cokmbini t 90-93, 95, 1081 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 



Viterbo. The Pope was arranging a league against the Visconti, 
and the Sienese ambassadors did not come?. The only political 
letter of Giovanni and Francesco that has come down to us, 
dated Viterbo, July r8, is to the "magnificent lords, the Twelve, 
governors of the city of Siena/' on this subject. Francesco 
Bruni has told them that his Holiness is amazed at their delay, 
and they implore them for their own good, lest they lose the 
Pope's favour, instantly to send the ambassadors. 1 On July 31, 
the very day of Giovanni's death, the league was signed in the 
Apostolic Palace, and, through the personal influence of the 
Marquis of Ferrara, the Republic of Siena joined it. 2 But, on 
August 20, the great Cardinal Albornoz died, followed to his 
grave by the admiration and reverence of friend and foe. At 
once his presence was missed in the papal counsels. An anti- 
French tumult broke out at Viterbo on September 5, and for 
three days Urban and his cardinals were besieged in the fortress 
by the insurgents, Florence and Siena, and even Rome itself, sent 
troops to his aid, but the Pope was glad at length to leave the 
turbulent capital of the Patrimony. Escorted by the Marquis 
of Ferrara with his men-at-arms, Urban left Viterbo on October 
14. On October 16, he entered Rome in triumph, riding on a 
white mule, and was received with universal joy and acclamation. 
The Marquis of Ferrara, Count Amedeo of Savoy, the lords of 
the Malatesta family, and all the petty nobles of the Marches 
and Campagna accompanied him ; the fierce soldier, Rodolfo 
Varano of Camerino, bore up the standard of the Church. 
Armed mercenaries, infantry and cavalry, surrounded the pre- 
lates and cardinals of the Curia. Such was the martial entry of 
the Vicar of the Prince of Peace ; but the simple monk, who 
thus seemed the sovereign of the world, wept to see the 
desolation of the Sacred City, and threw himself in fervent 
prayer upon the ground at the tomb of the Apostle whose place 
he came to hold. 



: Lftttre del B. Giovanni Colombini, 1 1 o. 
* See G. Sancsi, Siena nella Lega contra it Fisconti* 
Storia Pafria f Anno L, 1894. 

6S 



In the Bulkttlno Scnete di 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

In the spring of the following year, 1368, the Emperor came 
again to Italy, as he had promised. He came with an army to 
carry out the designs of the league against the Visconti, joined 
forces with the papal troops and those of Queen Giovanna (to 
whom Urban had just given the Golden Rose), but effected 
nothing. Having made a truce with Bernabo and accepted a 
large sum of money from him, he moved southwards into 
Tuscany. 

The rule of the Twelve in Siena was tottering* The party 
had split into two sections, one of which allied with the Tolomei 
and other nobles, while the other had the powerful support of 
the Salimbeni. Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni managed to 
prevent the two factions coming to open war, but, on his return 
from an embassy to the Emperor, he was killed by a fall from 
his horse on the way from Siena to his castle of Rocca d'Orcia. 
The nobles and Noveschi secretly brought troops into the city, 
and, on September 2, with the support of the populace, they 
forced the Twelve to surrender the Palace and the entire control 
of the State. Thirteen consuls were appointed, ten nobles and 
three Noveschi, who sent Messer Vanni Malavolti and two other 
ambassadors to the Emperor at Lucca. The Salimbeni and the 
Dodicini allied, and sent a rival embassy ; Charles accepted their 
offers, and despatched Malatesta Mala testa to Siena with eight 
hundred horsemen. On September 24, the Salimbeni, shouting 
for the People and the Emperor, began a general rising against 
the new aristocratic regime, and admitted Malatesta and his 
cavalry. There was furious fighting from street to street, and a 
last mighty struggle in the Campo round the Palace, which was 
finally stormed by the imperial troops and sacked by the in- 
furiated populace. The nobles fled the city with their families, 
while Malatesta fortified himself in the Poggio Malavolti, from 
which he ruled the city as imperial vicar, A popular council of 
a hundred and twenty-four plebeians was assembled, called the 
Consiglio de 1 Riformaiori^ which created a new Signoria of twelve 
M Defenders," representatives of all classes of the people. The 
Salimbeni were given Massa and five other casdes in the Sienese 

66 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 

contado, and declared popolani. The Emperor, passing through 
Siena on his way to join the Pope at Viterbo, knighted two of 
the family for their services* and accepted an enormous present of 
money from the Commune. 

On October 21, the Pope and the Emperor entered Rome 
together, Charles leading Urban's mule on foot. This was the 
great event for which Birgitta had so long waited in patience, 
but, now that it had come, it brought her a personal trial and 
disappointment. She had communicated her visions concerning 
the reformation of the Church to the Pope. She had written to 
the Emperor, urging him to unite in this great work, and she 
now wrote again in the name of Christ, bidding him hearken to 
her revelations, and strive to make the Divine justice and mercy 
feared and desired upon earth. 1 But Charles simply ignored her, 
and Urban had no time at present to attend to a woman's 
admonitions. 

The state of Siena was bordering upon anarchy. The banished 
nobles held the fortresses in the contado, burned and foraged up 
to the gates of the city, and absolutely declined to come to terms 
with the government of the Defenders, at whose sentences and 
decrees they mocked. Malatesta sent the army of the Commune 
against them, but it effected nothing. On December n, there 
was a popular rising against the less democratic element in the 
new administration. The mob fired the gate of the Palace, broke 
in, and drove out the representatives of the Nine and Twelve 
from the Signoria. Ultimately, by a kind of compromise, under 
the authority of the imperial vicar, a new council of plebeian 
reformers instituted a fresh Signoria of fifteen u Defenders," 
eight of the popolo mwuto t four of the Twelve, and three of the 
Nine. The Captain of the People and the " Gonfalonieri Maestri M 
(the Gonfalonieri of the three terzi of the city) were always to 
be of the popolo minuto, while the Captain was to have three coun- 
sellors, one from each order of the people, all together forming a 
supreme authority in criminal cases. Thus was established the 

1 Rtvciationa, IV. 4.5, VIII. 50, 51. 

67 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

artisan government of the Riformatori y or popolo del maggior 
numeroy in Siena. 1 

In the meanwhile, the Dodicini and the Salimbeni, who had 
instigated the rising for their own advantage and were naturally 
disappointed at the results, sent agents to the Emperor to implore 
his aid, Charles was now on his way back from Rome. On 
December 22, with the Empress, he entered Siena, * all armed 
save the head/' with an imposing array of imperial troops, and 
alighted, as before, at the Palazzo SalimbenL A few days later, 
the Cardinal Guy of Boulogne* a warlike French prelate whom 
the Emperor had made imperial vicar-general in all Tuscany, 
arrived at Siena with reinforcements. The adherents of the 
Twelve hailed him as a possible ecclesiastical despot to overthrow 
their enemies. Charles demanded the surrender into his hands 
of the towns and fortresses of Massa, Montalcmo, Grosseto, 
Talamone, and Casole, with the intention of handing them over 
to the Cardinal. The Defenders summoned a council of more 
than eight hundred citizens, and returned a practically unanimous 
refusal. Neither would they make any fresh modification of 
their constitution at the Bohemian Caesars bidding. The Noves- 
chi and the populace alike were prepared to end the crisis by 
recalling the exiled nobles. 

On the morning of January 18, i i 6q» there arose a sudden 
clamour through the streets of Siena : ** Long live the People," 
* Death to the traitors who want the nobles back ! ff Led by 
Niccolo Salimbent and his allies of the Dodicini, armed bands 
rushed through each terzo of the city, sacking and slaying as they 
went, while two other Salimbeni, Pietro and Cione, entered the 
Palace with their followers. The whole thing had been pre- 
arranged with the imperial authorities. Malatesta brought his 
soldiery into the Campo and called upon the Defenders, in the 
name of the Emperor, to expel their colleagues of the Nine. 
Summoned by the Salimbeni, Charles himself mounted, and 
moved towards the Palace with three thousand horsemen. 



1 Cf. O. Mdlavolti, Historia de* Sanest f pp. 13*, 132c. 

68 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 

All the bells of the city dashed out the alarm. The train- 
bands were in arms and poured into the Campo. Seizing the 
banner of the People, the Captain, Matteino di Ventura, left the 
Palace, put himself at their head, and drove the imperial forces 
back upon the Croce del Travaglio. In the narrow streets, 
assailed in all directions, deafened by the clanging bells, rained 
upon by stones and darts, the heavily-armed chivalry of the north 
was helpless. After an " incredible battle M of several hours, the 
Emperor was driven back to the Palazzo Salimbeni, with the loss 
of more than four hundred slain, including one of his own 
nephews. The three representatives of the Nine, who had left 
the Palace, were brought back in triumph in procession, to the 
sound of trumpets, crowned with garlands and bearing branches 
of olive. Pietro and Cione Salimbeni, in their turn, were made 
prisoners, and forced to yield up Massa to the Commune. A 
proclamation was issued forbidding any food to be sold or given 
to the Emperor or his people. Starved and terrified, protesting 
that he had been betrayed, the successor of Augustus pardoned 
the Commune everything, made the Defenders his vicars in per- 
petuity, meekly received back as many of his horses and as much 
of his property as the Captain of the People could recover, 
accepted a large sum of money, and went his way on January 25. 1 
So cowed was the Emperor that a mere suggestion of trouble 
made him shrink from entering Pisa, where the upstart Doge had 
been overthrown and the old democratic government of the 
Anziani restored in the previous September. He passed on to 
Lucca, where he stayed till July, formally liberating that city for 
ever from the Pisan yoke. 

In February, the Gambacorti — led by Piero and Gherardo and 
their sons — returned to Pisa in triumph, enthusiastically welcomed 
by the people in memory of the good government of their fore- 
bears. At the high altar of San Michele, Messer Piero swore 
love and fidelity to the Commune and People of Pisa, and he 
kept his oath. In the inevitable tumult against the Raspanti that 



1 Cronka Sanest, coll, 204-207. 

69 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



followed, he did his utmost to restrain the excesses of his adhe- 
rents : ■* I have forgiven, as you know, the beheading of my 
kinsmen/' he said, "and will not you forgive?" 1 In September, 
1370, the citizens offered to make him absolute lord of Pisa, but 
he refused, and chose to be merely the chief salaried officer of the 
Republic, " Captain-General and Defender of the Commune and 
People." The administration of the twelve Anziani remained, 
but Piero Gambacorti was virtually the ruler of the State, He 
was a merciful and pacific man, an ardent Catholic and deeply 
religious, and his government was, in the main, of a paternal 
description* Lucca lay directly subject to the Roman Empire in 
the person of the Cardinal Guy of Boulogne, until in March, 1370, 
through the intervention of the Pope, the Cardinal surrendered 
his authority, and Lucca became a free Republic once more, with 
a Signoria of ten (nine Anziani and a Gonfaloniere of Justice) 
and the usual two councils. Like the government of the Gamba- 
corti at Pisa, the new-born Republic of Lucca was decidedly papal 
in its tendencies and sympathies — a political fact of importance in 
the coming convulsions of Italy. 

But, in Siena, things seemed little better under the new regime. 
There were risings and tumults within the city, in the main the 
work of the Salimbeni and the adherents of the Twelve, directed 
against the Noveschi ; there was plundering and ravaging in the 
contado, the Marquis of Monferrato having failed in his attempt 
to reconcile the nobles with the popular government. Armed 
guards were set all over the city and at the gates : M And on the 
tower of the Campo many guards kept watch, day and night, and 
gave signals with fire and smoke when it was needful, and rang 
the bells to give the alarm." The Defenders appointed a new 
officer, the Executor of Justice, with full powers to enforce order, 
but with little result. "And thus all law and all justice was 
dead in the city of Siena, by the work of the Salimbeni and of 
the Twelve. To such a pitch it came that, in Siena and In the 
contado, men slew and plundered on every side/* 2 The nobles 



1 Cronica di Pha, col. 

2 Cronica Sanest, coll. 






1052. 

207, 208. 



70 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 



had sent Messer Varmi Malavotti, the government a certain 
Jacomo di Guido Guernieri (a swordsmith by trade), as ambas- 
sadors to Florence, and at length, in the spring of 1369, by 
Florentine intervention, a temporary peace was made between the 
nobles and the people, which was greeted with trumpets and 
salvos and great rejoicing. 

Like most others that belonged to the order of the Dodicini,! 
the family of jacomo di Benincasa suffered heavily from the 
change of government. Catherine's elder brothers, Benincasa and 
Bartolommeo, were active members of their faction, and, either 
on the occasion of the September rising or in one of the later 
tumults, they were sought out by a band of the populace who 
meant to take their lives. A friend rushed into the house, telling 
them that the enemy were at hand, urging them to take refuge in 
the neighbouring church of Sant' Antonio, whither others of their 
faction had already fled. But Catherine sprang to her feet : 
u They must not go to Sant* Antonio," she said, u and I am 
sorry indeed for those who are there/' She put on her mantle, 
and, bidding her brothers come with her and fear not, led them 
safely through their enemies, who lowered their weapons and 
reverently saluted her as she passed, to the hospital of Our Lady, 
where she left them in charge of the rector, telling them to stay in 
hiding for three days, and then return home in safety. And so 
it happened. All those who had taken shelter in Sant* Antonio 
were slain or made prisoners, but, after three days, the tumult 
subsided. Catherine's brothers were condemned to a fine of one 
hundred gold florins, which they paid, and were left in peace. 1 

As we have seen, the Twelve had still a small part in the/ 
new regime, and Benincasa and Bartolommeo were at first among! 
the representatives of their faction that held office, the latter, it is 
said, having even sat in the Signoria as one of the Defenders for' 
two months in 1370. But their condition had altered for the I 
worse since their father's death. The revolution had ruined their I 
business prospects, and, in the early autumn of this year, the two, 

1 The anonymous author of the Miracol^ quoted by GrotUnelli in the notes 
to the Ltggenda minore, pp. 209, 210. 

7' 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

together with Stefano, emigrated to Florence, and were admitted 
to the Florentine citizenship. Their family had business connec- 
tions with Florence, and, apparently, had kept a workshop there 
for some considerable time previously. 1 In their adopted city 
they continued to exercise the art of dyers and tanners, but with 
little success, and were soon reduced to poverty. Catherine's 
beloved friend and companion, Lisa, naturally accompanied her 
husband. 

Catherine followed them not only with prayers, but with letters. 
Writing to the three together, u I would see you always united," 
she says, u with the sweet bond of holy charity, so that neither 
demon nor word of man can separate you from it. I remember 
the word that Jesus Christ said : he that humbleth himself shall be 
exalted. Do thou, Benincasa, who art the eldest, wish to be the 
least of all, and thou, Bartolommeo, wish to be less than the least, 
and I pray thee, Stefano, to be subject to God and them ; and so, 
sweedy, will you preserve yourselves in most perfect charity." 2 
Patience and submission to the will of God is the note of her 
three letters to Benincasa. The blood of Christ will make him 
strong to bear with true patience every labour and tribulation, 
from whatever side they come : " It wiU make you persevering, 
so that, even until death, you will endure with true humility ; 
because in that blood the eye of your understanding will be 
illumined by the truth, which is that God wtUs nought else save 
our sanctification, because He loves us ineffably ; otherwise, He 
would not have paid so great a price for us. Be then content, 
be content in every time and place, for all are given you by the 
Eternal Love for love. Rejoice in your tribulations, and consider 
yourself unworthy that God should send you by the way that 

1 Grottanelli, op. cit. t pp. 211-213, g* ves the text of the petition of the three 
brothers (October 16, 1370) for admission to the Florentine citizenship, which 
was approved by 78 votes to 28. It is difficult to explain their claim to have 
been virtually Florentine citizens for so many years, unless it is a mere form of 
words and a recognized polite fiction. In Florence, the Art tinture guadi was one 
of the minor guilds subjected to the great Artt ddla Land, the guild of the 
wool-merchants. 

1 Letter 14 (252), 

72 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 



His Son trod, and in all things render glory and praise to His 



name* 



u Dearest brother, be a lover of virtue with holy 
patience, and go often to confession, which will help you to bear 
your burdens, I tell you that God will use His benignity and 
mercy, and will reward you for every burden that you have borne for 
love of Him." l But, presently, a coldness arose between Benin- 
casa and those he had left behind in Siena ; in his tribulation, he 
thought that his mother ought to have helped him, while she, 
apparendy, felt more in need of aid from him, Catherine 
naturally took Lapa's part, and held her brother ungrateful : — 

" You must remember to correct yourself of your ingratitude 
and churlishness, in the matter of the duty you owe your mother, 
to whom you are bound by the commandment of God. As to 
your not having fulfilled the obligation of helping her, I hold you 
excused, because you have not been able ; but, even if you had 
been able, I do not know that you would have done it, seeing that 
you have Been niggardly to her even in your words. In your 
ingratitude you have not considered how she bore you and gave 
you suck, nor all the care she has had of you and of all the 
others, If you tell me that she has not been tender to us, I say 
that it is not true, for she has been so tender to you, and to the 
other, that it costs her dear. But, even if it were true, you 
would be in her debt, and not she in yours. She took no flesh 
from you, but gave you hers. I pray you to correct this and 
your other defects, and pardon me my rudeness, for, if I did not 
love your soul, I would not say what I say to you/ 1 2 

A little later, she sent a beautiful and tender letter of counsel 
to Benincasa's daughter Nanna, sua nipote vergine/la, on her taking 
the veil, interpreting for her the parable of the ten Virgins. 8 
Afterwards, when her influence extended as far as Florence, 
was able to help her brothers materially, by interesting the power; 
ful Guelf politician, Niccolo Soderini, on their behalf* 

Rome itself had seen but little of the Sovereign Pontiff" during 
these few years. His health had been steadily failing, and he 

1 Letters to and 20 (249 and 251), s Letter 18 (250). 

1 U*« i] (356). 

■ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



had passed most of his time at Vkerbo, and especially in the high- 
lying and salubrious Montefiascone. 

The work of Albornoz had been left incomplete in one essential 
point. Perugia, the third city of the Papal States, was still 
unsubdued. Its subjugation was a very different matter from 
hunting out the tyrants of such places as Forli or Imola : Perugia 
was a free and powerful Republic, only nominally subject to the 
Church. A conspiracy of the Baglioni in October, 1368, to 
surrender the city to the Pope, led to open war between it and 
the Holy See, in which the Benedictine Pierre d'Estaing, Arch- 
bishop of Bourges, had directed the papal forces ; while the 
Perugians had been aided in their resistance by Bernabo Visconti, 
Giovanni di Vico, and Hawkwood's English mercenaries. They 
had at first been successful, and had even, in the following year, 
threatened the Pope himself in Montefiascone* Urban naturally 
answered with excommunications and interdict. In the October 
of this year, 1369, he received in Rome the Emperor of the 
East, Johannes V Palaeologus, who came to implore aid against 
the Turks. Thus the Pope, in the space of a year, had seen the 
successors of Charlemagne and Justinian alike at his feet ; but 
found his power defied by a small Umbrian republic from its 
hill 

In April, 1370, Urban for the last time left Rome for Viterbo 
and Montefiascone. Giovanni di Vico submitted ; the Perugians 
opened negotiations for peace. Then, at Montefiascone, the 
Pope suddenly announced his intention of returning to Avignon, 

From the outset, Petrarca had hailed the papal return to Rome 
as the beginning of a new age for the Church — but only a 
beginning — and he had doubted the Pope's strength of will. He 
had greeted him on his arrival with the words of the Psalmist, 
In exitu Israel de Atgypiu : H When Israel went out of Egypt, 
the house of Jacob from a barbarous people, there was joy among 
the Angels in heaven and among the faithful on earth. And 
lo ! thou, most blessed Father, as far as in thee lies, hast rendered 
the Christian people happy. No longer will they now go wander- 
ing in search of their Lord or of His vicar ; but the one they 

74 



THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 



will find in heaven and within their own souls (for each is the 
seat of God), the other on earth arid in his proper place, that 
place which the Lord chose, in which the first of His vicars 
dwelt when he lived, and still remains though dead. Thou hast 
restored brightness to our world, and, rising like the sun, 
hast put to flight the coldness of long night and the powers of 
darkness. The neglect of five pontiffs, equal to thee in rank 
but not in soul, and of more than sixty years, hast thou alone in 
a few days repaired/* Urban has brought the Church back to 
her ancient seat ; let him complete his work by restoring her to her 
old state of purity and dignity, and begin by reforming the 
luxury and pomp of the cardinals. Let him look to the legates 
and papal officials, who are usurping the lordship of the Italian 
cities, and ruling them with such unheard-of tyranny that Peter 
is amazed, and Christ, in indignant wonder, is threatening 
vengeance: "And, unless He from heaven and thou on earth 
come to the rescue (for the Italians seem drugged and lie in 
'slumber), it will be all over with us; we shall soon see Italy 
reduced to servitude, and the Church literally militant, in arms 
and fighting for temporal sovereignty instead of for the faith ; 
we shall see her triumphant, too, so that the fame thereof reaches 
heaven and the stars, and individual ecclesiastics ruling in triumph 
over this or that city — until, when those who now slumber are 
awakened, all things are overthrown and reformed by a terrible 
revolution/' <c Then turn not aside from the way by which thou 
hast started, for there is none straighter to salvation ; the time is 
short, the journey long, and the hope of the reward will make 
the labour light. Beware of looking back ; for thou knowest 
that he who has set hand to the plough and looketh back, cannot enter 
into the kingdom of God" " If I heard that thou wast departing, 
I should not believe unless I saw ; and if I saw it with my own 
eyes, I should find it difficult to believe them. So great is the 
hope that I have set upon thee and upon thy virtues." l 

This virile language found an echo in the Pope's heart. He 
urged the poet, both directly and through the Patriarch of 
1 Return Senilium, Lib, IX. ep, i (undated). 

75 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Jerusalem, to join him in Rome. Petrarca promised that he 
would come j and actually started in the spring of 1370, hjit was 
taken ill at Ferrara, and, when he recovered, the doQtQCa-^ forbad e 
him to proceed* 1 He was probably at Padua, or iti his retreat at 
Arqua among the Euganean Hills, when he heard that all was 
over, and that Urban was returning to Provence. In his last 
letter to the "Pope, one of the noblest of his compositions, Italy 
herself addresses the fugitive successor of Peter : — 

" When I was lacerated with deadly sores, thou didst descend 
to me to cure my wounds, and didst say with Peter \ I am an 
Apostle of Christ ; have no fear of me y my daughter. Thou didst 
begin to pour into them wine and oil, and now, without having 
bound them up or applied the remedies, thou art departing from 
me. Thou didst find, it may be, that my malady was such as 
seemeth to thee incurable, and for this thou art, perchance, 
deserting me, like a despairing physician who is ashamed to await 
the death of his patient. But who knoweth that He would not 
lay His hand upon me with thee, who healed the sick from all 
diseases ? Who knoweth if he would not be with thee, at whose 
word the limbs of the infirm were made whole ? Thou art the 
vicar of the one, the successor of the other ; thou holdest the keys 
of the Kingdom of Heaven* . . * If thou wilt not be moved by 
my entreaty, He will meet thee on thy way, who to Peter's words 
when he fled : Lord, whither goest Thou ? answered : I go to Rome 
to be crucified again." 2 

This letter was apparently written in the late spring or early 
summer of 1370. On May 22, an embassy from the Romans 
came to Montefiascone, to implore the Pope to reconsider his 
decision. w The Holy Spirit led me to Rome," he answered ; a it 

1 Rerum ScnUium, Lib, XI. cp, 1, i6 t 17, letters dated Padua, July 25 (1368), 
December 24 (1369), May 8 (1370), respectively* 

8 The original text of this letter (which is not found in the early editions of 
Pctrarca's works) is given by A. M. Bandini, B'tbliotheca Leopoldina Lcurtntian^ 
Tom. ii. (Florence, 1792), coll. 101-103. In Fracassetti's Italian version, it 
appears as the third of the Lettere varie* The words, Eg> sum Apostolus Chrhti % 
etc., are those uttered by St. Peter to St. Agatha in prison, according to the legend 
of the latter saint, in the Brevwrium Romanum for February 5. 

76 






THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 

now leads me away for the honour of the Church." Ill-health 
and the evil influence of the French cardinals were probably the 
real explanations ; the only plausible excuse that Urban could 
have offered was that, Italy being now pacified, his presence was 
needed in Avignon to make peace between France and Eng- 
land, who had renewed hostilities. On June 7, he made two 
cardinals, both of whom were soon to touch Catherine's life 
very nearly : Pierre d'Estaing, with the title of Santa Maria 
in Trastevere, and the Bishop of Florence, Piero Corsini, the 
nephew of Piero degH Albizzi, whose faction had always favoured 
the league of Florence with the Church. He likewise appointed 
Pierre d'Estaing, who was a great-hearted and far-seeing man, of 
virtuous life and enlightened views, albeit of an aristocratic and 
somewhat overbearing disposition, to the southern legation in 
Italy ; the northern legation, that called of Bologna, he had 
previously, in January, 1368, assigned to his own brother, 
Anglico de Grimoard. He now bade the Romans farewell, 
promising still to care for them as a father, urging them to 
remain at peace and not prevent his return, or the coming of his 
successor. " Nevertheless," he said, t§ we bear witness that we 
and our brothers, the cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, and 
our familiars and officers, have remained for three years with you 
and in the places round about, in great quiet and consolation ; and 
you, collectively and individually, have treated us and our Curia 
with reverence and kindness." l 

Birgitta had gone with her sons, Charles and Birger, to 
Amalfi. She returned, to find Urban on the point of departure, 
and resolved to make a last effort to see him. It was in July 
when she reached Viterbo and went out to Montefiascone, where 
the Pope was. With her came a man of high repute for sanctity, 
whom we shall meet again in connection with Catherine : the 
u hermit bishop," Alfonso da Vadaterra. Born of a Sienese father 
and a Spanish mother, Alfonso had begun a brilliant ecclesiastical 
career as Bishop of Jaen, but had renounced his bishopric, dis- 
tributed his goods among the poor, and was now living at Rome 
1 Brief of June a6, 1370, in Raynaldus, vJL p. 190. 

77 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



as an Augustinian hermit. He it was who wrote Birgitta's life, 
and apparently put the books of her Revelations into the form in 
which we now have them. 

The Swedish princess on her mule climbed the high hill upon 
which Montefiascone stands, to the papa) palace at the summit, 
overlooking the peaceful lake of Bolsena. There below her lay the 
island that had witnessed the martyrdom of Santa Cristina, and 
that other where Amalasuenthahad been brutally done to death by 
her Gothic assassins ; further away lay the quiet little town with 
the church that had witnessed the mystical wonder that is cele- 
brated still in the Lauda Sion of Aquinas and the marble glory ot 
Orvieto's Duomo. She was ushered into the presence of the 
Sovereign Pontiff — her friend Niccolo Orsini, the Count of Nola, 
apparently acting as interpreter* Urban received her kindly, 
granted her the authorization of her rule, but would not discuss 
the affairs of the Holy See. Presently, however, he sent a mes- 
senger after her, to ask her what was the Divine will in the 
matter. Then the visionary spirit seized again upon Birgitta, and 
the Blessed Virgin spoke in her heart to this effect : — 

" Because of my prayer, he obtained the infusion of the Holy 
Spirit, that he should go through Italy to Rome, for nought else 
save to do justice and mercy, to strengthen the Catholic faith, to 
confirm peace, and thus to renovate Holy Church. Even as a 
mother leads her child to what place pleases her while she shows 
him her breasts ; so did I lead Pope Urban, by my prayer and 
the work of the Holy Spirit, from Avignon to Rome, without any 
danger to his person. What hath he done to me ? Now he 
turneth to me his back and not his face, and he intends to depart 
from me ; to this a malign spirit leads him with its fraud. For 
he is weary of his divine labour and lusteth for his bodily ease. 
Yea, the devil draws him with worldly delectation, for too 
desirable to him is the land of his birth in mundane fashion, 
He is drawn, too, by the counsels of his carnal friends, who 
consider his pleasure and will more than the honour and will of 
God, or the profit and salvation of his soul. If it should happen 
that he return to the regions where he was elected Pope, he will 

78 




THE COMING OF URBAN THE FIFTH 



in a brief while receive such a stroke that his teeth will gnash ; 
his sight will be darkened and grow dim, and all the limbs of his 
body will tremble. The ardour of the Holy Spirit will for a 
while grow tepid within him and depart* and the prayers of all 
the friends of God, who resolved to pray for him with tears and 
groans, will be numbed, and the love of him will grow cold in 
their hearts. And he will render account before God of the 
things which he has done In the papal chair, and of the things 
which he has omitted, but could have done to the honour of God 
in his great position." * 

This revelation she delivered in person to the Pope, in the 
presence of the young French cardinal, Pierre Roger de Beaufort, 
the nephew of Clement VL 2 But Urban went sadly on his way. 
On September 5, 1370, he sailed from Corneto, reaching France 
on the 1 6th. Three months later, on December 19, he died 
at Avignon, in the house of his brother Anglico, at his own wish 
stretched on the couch of poverty and dressed in the Benedictine 
habit. An ineffectual Pope, but a faithful monk to the end. 3 
On December 30, Cardinal Pierre Roger de Beaufort was 
elected to succeed him ; he was ordained priest on January 4, 
1 37 1, and, the next day, was crowned Pope under the title of 
Gregory XL 

A month before Urban's death, in November, 1370, a peace 
had been concluded at Bologna between the Church and Perugia, 
by the intervention of the ambassadors of Florence — the principal 
conditions of which were that the city of Perugia should recognize 
the Pope and the Church in perpetuity as its sovereign, and that 

1 Revtktkna, IV, 138. 

2 The Cardinal had previously refused to present the revelation to Urban. 
Cf. Alfonso's testimony in Raynaldus, vii. p. 374. 

8 According to Birgitta, in spite of his great fall, Urban's soul finds mercy at 
the last because of his fidelity to his vows. Cf. Rcvelatknes t IV. 144 : " Visio quam 
habuit Sponsa Christi de judicio animae cujusdam Summi Pontificis defuncti." 
The Comtessc de Flavigny {Satnte Brigitte de Sidt/e, p. 285} is clearly in error in 
mpposing that Clement VI is the pontiff in question. Cf. Petrarca, Rtr. Sen., Lib. 
XI 1L ep. 1 J. The Bolognese anticipated the judgment of the Church by at once 
venerating the dead Pope as a saint. 

79 



^ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

the Pope for his life-time should make the priors of the Republic 
his vicars, after they had formally surrendered the keys of the city 
to the commissaries of the Cardinal Legate, in sign and recog- 
nition of which they were to pay, during the life of the Pope, an 
annual tribute of 3,000 gold florins. The Perugians were still 
doubting about the meaning of the clause that spoke of the 
creation of vicars as only for the life-time of the Pope, while the 
recognition of the Church's sovereignty was perpetual, when 
Urban died, and the legate, Anglico de Grimoard, had no 
further powers to act. But the exiles who had bee n resto red^ 
raised fresh tumults, the city lacked provisions, and Cardinal 
d*Estaing, confirmed in his legation by the new Pope, entered 
Perugia in triumph, on May 19, 137 1, welcomed by the priors 
and citizens with palms and olive-branches. 1 

Thus, in appearance, was the work of Albornoz completed in 
the first year of the pontificate of Gregory XI ; but it was to 
prove a house built on sand, with no sure foundation in the love 
of the subjects that ostensibly accepted the papal rule. The year 
of Urban's desertion of Italy is the year of Catherine's entry 
into public life. The new pontiff, gentle, scholarly, sickly and 
suffering in his body, well-meaning, but weak and irresolute, 
fickle, and at times unexpectedly hard and obstinate, was to 
encounter the spiritual force of her whom He, whose vicar on 
earth he claimed to be, had wedded to Himself in the mystic 
bond of perfect Faith. 

1 Cfl Pcllini, Hhforia di Perugia, I. pp. 1080- 108 5 ; Supplement to Graziani** 
Chronicle, pp. 208-417 ; Monteimrte, Cronaea di QrrUto, I. p. 39. 



80 



CHAPTER V 

l SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 



11 Atnore non c iltro che unlmento sptrituale deil* anima e delta cota amata." — Dante, 
Outvhoio i 111. 1. 

" Id quod amatur araore amicitiae, slmpliciter et per te amatur." — St, Thomas Aquinas, 
Smmma Tktulogita, HI. Q. 16. A, 4. 

Catherine was now nearly twenty-four years old : a won- 
derfully endowed woman. Gifts had 'been 'given her to fulfil the 
impassioned hunger and thirst after righteousness ; a divination of 
spirits, and an intuition so swift and infallible that men deemed 
it miraculous, the magic of a personality so winning and irresistible 
that neither man nor woman could hold out against it, a simple 
untaught wisdom that confounded the arts and subtleties of the 
world ; and, with these, a speech so golden, so full of a mystical 
eloquence, that her words, whether written or spoken, made all 
hearts burn within them when her message came. In ecstatic 
contemplation she passes into regions beyond sense and above 
reason, voyaging alone in. unexplored and untrodden realms of 
the spirit ; but, when the sounds of the earth again break -in 
upon her trance, a homely common-sense and simple humour are 
hers, no less than the knowledge acquired in these communings 
with an unseen world. 

It is stated by Orlando Malavolti, the sixteenth century 
historian of Siena, that Catherine had already written to Pope 
Urban V. But this is manifestly an error. Her time had not 
yet come to pass out of her hidden life into what a Pope of the 
Renaissance was to call the "game of the world.'* j t 15 curiou s 
that, while she jpakes one reference to Urban in a letter to his 

lessor, 1 she^ver mentions the hopes and fears that had been 
, raised by his coming. Her entry into public affairs appears to 
have begun in those months that intervened between his flight 
from Italy and his death at Avignon. 

All through this summer of 1370, the soul of Catherine was 
1 Letter 231 (7). 



V* 



*\ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



overwhelmed with visions and manifestations of divine mysteries. 
11 To explain in our defective language what I saw," she said in 
after years, " would seem to me like blaspheming the Lord, or 
dishonouring Him by my speech ; so great is the distance 
between what the intellect, when rapt and illumined and 
strengthened by God, apprehends, and what can be expressed 
with words, that they seem almost contradictory." As she 
prayed to the Lord for purity of heart that she might worthily 
receive the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, it seemed to her that 
a torrent of mingled blood and fire was poured down upon her, 
to the mystical cleansing of body and soul. And, a day or two 
later, she believed that Christ had drawn her heart from her side, 
and given her His own in exchange, with which she was hence- 
forth to live. "Do you not see, father/* she said to Fra 
Tommaso della Fonte, u that I am no longer she who I was, but 
that I am changed into another person ? Such gladness and such 
delight possess my mind, that I marvel greatly how my soul can 
stay in my body. Such ardour is in my soul that this material, 
exterior fire seems to me cold by comparison." Praying for 
this confessor and her other companions, that eternal life might 

I be their portion, and seeking a sign from Christ that her prayers 
were heard, she felt the palm of her outstretched hand pierced 
through by an invisible nail of iron, and thus received the fore- 
taste of the stigmata, the imprint of the five wounds of Our Lord 
in His passion, which afterwards — albeit invisible — were to be 
hers. "The abundance of graces and revelations and most 

I manifest visions," writes Fra Raimondo, " at this time so com- 
pletely filled the soul of this holy virgin, that she began utterly 
to waste away through the greatness of her love ; and she became 
so weak that she could no more rise up from her bed, albeit she 
suffered nought else save only the love of her eterMl Bridegroom, 
upon whose name she called continually, as though bereft of 
sense." 

She prayed earnestly that she might soon be delivered from 
the body that kept her from the embraces of her Spouse, and 
that, if this might not yet be, in the meanwhile she might at least 

82 



THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 

be united to Him by partaking in the sufferings that He endured 
on earth* At length it seemed that her heart was broken by the 
force of her love, " So great/' she said, " was the fire of divine f 
love and of the desire of uniting myself with Him I loved, that, 
if my heart had been of stone or of iron, it would have been 
broken in like manner/* It was on a Sunday in the autumn of 
this year, 1370* when this mystical death fell upon her — a trance 
of some four hours' duration — in which her friends all thought 
her actually dead, and filled her cell with cries and lamentations. 
In this suspension of her bodily life, Catherine believed that she 
had really died, that her soul entered into eternity, tasted the 
blessedness of the vision of the Divine Essence, and, like Dante, 
beheld the spiritual lives of Heaven, Purgatory, and Hell. Like 
Dante, she was bidden repeat to the living what she had seen, in 
pro del mondo che mal vive : — 

" Whilst my soul beheld all these things, the eternal Bride- 
groom, whom I thought fully to possess, said to her : * Seest 
thou of what great glory they are deprived, and with what 
grievous torments they are punished, who offend Me ? Return, 
then, and make known to them their error, their danger, and loss/ 
And, for that my soul shrank with horror from this return, the 
Lord added ; 'The salvation of many souls demands thy return, 
nor shalt thou any more keep that way of life that thou hast 
hitherto kept, nor shalt thou henceforth have thy cell for habita- 
tion ; n£y f thou shalt have to go forth from thine own city for 
the welfare of souls. 1 shall be always with thee, and shall guide 
thee and bring thee back ; thou shalt bear the honour of My 
name and witness to spiritual things before small and great, the 
laity no less than the clergy and religious ; for I shall give thee 
speech and wisdom which none will be able to withstand. I shall 
lead thee, t«, before the pontiffs and rulers of the Churches and 
of the Christian people, in order that, as is My wont, by means 
of the weak I may confound the pride of the strong/ ** 1 

Fra Bartolommeo di Domenico tells us that he was preaching 
in San Domenico when the report was spread that Catherine had 
1 LtgrnJa, II. fi. t-9, 17, 20-23 (§ § 178-193, 206, 212-216), 

83 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

died. After the sermon, he, too, heard the rumour, and rushed 
to her cell. It was so full of friars and women that he could 
hardly enter, and they told him she had been dead some hours 
before. She gradually came to life again in his presence, but for 
days could do nothing but weep, and bewail the sad fate of her 
soul that, having beheld with the Angels the face of her Creator, 
was sent down again to her carnal imprisonment. To the end, 
Catherine believed she had been really and truly dead, nor could 
she ever speak of this vision without tears. (t Will you not have 
pity, father, 11 she said to Fra Raimondo, " upon a soul that had 
been freed from the dark prison, and, after having seen a most 
blessed light, was again shut up in her former darkness ? I am 
that wretched creature to whom this befell, for so did the divine 
Providence dispose because of my sins." l Nevertheless, this 
vision was the prelude to her public life—the mystical signification 
of her great and wonderful vocation. 

Henceforth, Catherine's work was done openly in the eyes of 
the world, though for a while she did not, save in spirit, leave the 
territories ot the Sienese Republic. A number of conversions 
marked the beginning of her public ministry. Andrea di Naddino 
Bellanti, a notorious sinner and blasphemer, Struck down by 
illness in the flower of his manhood, was moved by her prayers 
to repentance and an edifying end, Francesco Saracini, the 
father-in-law of Alessa, a fierce and irreligious old noble of 'eighty 
years, at her bidding made peace with the enemy whom he hated 
to death, and became a model of simple-hearted devotion for the 
few months of life that remained to him. Jacomo Tolomei, the 
furious son of Francesco and Rabe Tolomei, a uomo assai 
maraviglioso e molto terribile," already twice a homicide and the 
terror of all the city, not only meekly submitted to his sisters, 
Ghinoccia and Francesca, taking the veil, but confessed his own 
sins to Fra Bartolommeo, and iC was changed from wolf to Iamb, 
from lion to watch-dog," A younger brother of his, Matteo 
Tolomei, became one of Catherine's spiritual household and 
entered the Dominican order, 

1 Qonkttam Fr. Barthokmaei, coll. 1532-1 3^3 ; Lfgmda, II. vi, 21 (§213). 

84 



THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 



jiut, among the men and women who gave up everything to 
become Catherine's followers and disciples, there were some very 
different from the Dominican tertiaries and the friars. Neri d^ 
Landoccio Pagliaresi, a vernacular poet, and by rank a noble of I 
one of the lesser Sienese hou ggs, who joined her about this time, \ 
is the first of aUttle group of youths of birth and learning who 
left their families to cleave to her and serve her as secretaries, 
binding themselves to her in worship and love of friendship ; a 
spiritual tie of whole-hearted devotion, which she describes in 
her Dialogue as the means chosen by God to raise a soul as yet 
imperfect in love to the perfection of love. By thus conceiving 
a spiritual and absorbing love for some one creature, such a soulll 
frees herself from all unworthy passions, and advances in virtue,!! ^" 
by this ordered love casting out all disordered affections. By the 11 
unselfishness and perfection o r her love for such a friend, the soul) 
can test the perfection or imperfection of her love for God. 1 It 
is like the love of Dante for Beatrice, but kindled at the foot of 
the Cross and consecrated at the steps of the Altar. 

u You asked me to receive you for son,' 1 she writes to Neri, 
in the first of her letters to him ; w and, therefore, I — unworthy, 
miserable, and wretched as I am — have already received you, and 
receive you with affectionate love ; and I pledge, and will pledge 
myself for ever in the sight of God, to bear the weight for you of 
all the sins you have committed or might commit. But 1 pray 
you to fulfil my desire ; that is, that you conform yourself with 
Christ crucified, by entirely severing yourself from the conversa- 
tion of the world ; for in no other way could we have this 
conformity with Christ, Clothe yourself, clothe yourself with 
Christ crucified ; for He is that weddjng garment that will give 
you grace here, and afterwards will place you at the banquet of 
life eternal" 2 

A very different type from this highly-strung and sensitive 
poet (who to the end was tormented by terrible fits of despondency] \ 
and depression, with a haunting fear lest he should not have' 



1 Dia/ogo, cap. 144. 
* Letter 99 (272). 



In all subsequent letters, Catherine addresses him as ttt. 

85 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



grace to persevere) was his friend and companion, Francesco di 
Messer Vanni Malavolti, the son of one of the most influential 
of the great Sienese nobles. 

* I was then about twenty-five years old," writes Francesco, 
" not a little fiery and daring by reason of my kindred and my 
birth, well furnished with temporal goods, and, impelled by my 
still youthful age, I was living lasciviously and unrestrainedly in 
the wretched delights of the world and the flesh, as though I were 
never to die, recklessly pursuing my inordinate lusts with all my 
power. But it chanced that, as I had conversation and fellowship 
with many like me in age and birth, among my other dear and 
beloved companions, there was a noble youth of Siena called Neri 
di Landoccio di Messer Neri de' Pagliaresi, with whom I spent 
much of my time, both because he was very virtuous and pleasant, 
and because he was an excellent composer of beautiful poems, in 
which at that time I took the greatest delight. This Neri, after 
we had been friends for a long while, had heard often (without my 
knowledge) of the fame of that glorious virgin Catherine, and 
had even spoken to her, whereby he had become wondrously 
changed and made another man. Pitying me because of 
the lascivious life I led, and desiring the salvation of my 
soul rather than of my body, he many times besought me to 
go with him to speak with the said virgin Catherine. But I, 
caring little for these words and prayers, nay, rather deriding 
them, for a long time would not in the least consent to his will ; 
but at length, constrained by his prayers, and unwilling to distress 
him because of the bond of singular love by which he was bound 
to me, I told him that I was ready to satisfy his desire ; albeit, in 
my inmost heart, I was not going thither from any devotion, but 
rather with contempt, and intending, if she preached to me about 
the spirit and especially about confession, to answer her in such 
wise that she would never speak to me any more. And so, with 
this intention, I prepared to go to her. But, when we both came 
to the glorious virgin, no sooner had I seen her face than a 
terrible fear entered me, with so great a trembling that I almost 
fainted ; and, albeit (as I said) 1 had no thought or intention of 

86 









THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 

confessing^ God so wondrously changed my heart at her first 
word that I went straightway to confess myself sacramentally ; 
and that first visit was so efficacious that I became all the contrary 
to what I had been before." After a few more visits to her, he 
completely abandoned his former mode of life ; and so great was 
the change that, whereas hitherto his own wife, ** a noble damsel, 
fair and beautiful according to the flesh, but far more according 
to virtue and spirit," had not sufficed him, u but I was striving 
also, according to my power, to have several other women," he 
now, with her consent, lived for a long time with her in chastity, 
and, shunning the worldly pleasures in which his soul had 
delighted, he found his joy in the churches and in conversing 
with the servants of God, and began to frequent Catherine's 
house and listen to her teaching. 

Nevertheless, shortly after, he fell into a grave sin— known, he 
says, only to God. u Immediately after the commission of this 
sin, touched by God, I went to the virgin's home, and, as soon as 
I had entered her house, before I had come to her presence, 
beyond her wont she had me called to her ; and, having sent out 
all the others who were with her, she made me sit down near her, 
and said to me : c Tell me, how long is it since thou didst go to 
confession ? ' To which I answered : ( Last Saturday/ And 
this was perfectly true, for such was the custom of all of us who 
conversed with her. Then she : ■ Go and confess at once ; ' to 
which I : ' My sweet mother, I will confess to-morrow, which is 
Saturday/ But she repeated the same thing, saying ; * Go, and 
do what I tell thee/ And when I sought some delay, and 
refused to do it just then, she, with face glowing and enkindled, 
said to me : * How, my son, dost thou think that I have not my 
eyes ever open over my children ? You could not do or say 
anything without my knowing it. And how dost thou think 
to hide from me that thou hast just now done so and so? Go 
therefore, immediately, and cleanse thyself from such great misery/ 
Then, when I heard her tell me exactly all that I had done and 
said, confused and full of shame, without any other answer, 
I straightway heedfully fulfilled her command and went to 

87 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



confession ; and not only then, but on many other occasions, 

did she manifest to me, with modest and humble words, not only 
my hidden deeds, but also the thoughts that were passing in my 
heart, the good as well as the evil/* l 

On a later occasion, Catherine was to write to Francesco : " I 
can well call thee dear ; so much art thou costing me in tears and 
labour and in much bitter sorrow." But, for the present, the 
young man was in the first fervour of his conversion. " From 
being a bestial man and well-nigh demoniacal, 1 ' he says, u I had 
come to true knowledge and to life according to the spirit." 
His relations and associates strove by all possible means to draw 
him from his new mode of living. Two especially misliked his 
change to good- — 4I and this, as I deem, because we had previously 
been the most concordant in the lascivious vanities of the world." 
One of these was a connection by marriage, Neri di Guccio 
degli Ugurghieri (a member of the oldest feudal family of Siena), 
and the other a companion, Niccolo di Bindo Ghelli. Whenever 
they met Francesco, they would abuse Catherine, and declared 
themselves ready to say the same to her face. " Come then," 
said Francesco at last, "and I will introduce you to her. If you 
convince her, I promise to return with you to my old life ; but 
take good heed, for, if you go to her, before you depart she will 
convert you, and make you both go to confess your sins." That, 
the two protested, Christ Himself could not induce them to do ; 
but, nevertheless, a few days afterwards, they accompanied him to 
the Saint's house. And, whereas they had come with the intention 
of saying everything bad against her, when they were in her 
presence, they found they could not utter a word ; — 

14 Then she sweetly began to reprove them for many words 
which they had used many times against me, even as though she 
herself had been bodily always present when they said these things, 
albeit she had never heard anything about them from me, of which 
may God be my witness. Having heard these words of the 
virgin, they were touched and confused, and began to weep 
bitterly, nor did they answer anything but this : * Tell us, lady, 

1 Gontistotio Francifri de Makvoltts f cap. i., Casanatense MS., pp. 430-433. 

88 



THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 



what you would have us do, for we are disposed and ready to 
do whatever you think fit to command/ To which the virgin 
answered, saying : * I wish you instantly to go to confession ; and 
do thou, Francesco, lead them to my father, Fra Tommaso.' 
And, departing thence, we went together straight to the convent 
of the Friars Preachers of Siena, where the said father was, and 
there, with the greatest devotion and with tears, both the two 
confessed their sins. And so completely did they correct their 
lives, that, throughout the whole of that Lent, they were always 
present at holy preachings, put aside all evil conversations, and 
lived honestly and with the fear of the Lord* And thus it 
appears manifestly how wondrously these two, who fled her so, 
nevertheless could not escape out of the hands of that holy little 
virgin Catherine." l 

Other lay disciples who joined Catherine's spiritual family at 
this time were Gabriele di Davino Piccolomini, a married man, 
and Nigi di Doccio Arzocchi, apparently a youth, both members 
of noble houses. Less closely associated with her, but a fervent 
believer in her sanctity and mission, was Tommaso di Guelfaccio, 
the follower of Giovanni Colombini, a man in whom the govern- 
ment of the Republic placed much confidence. A man of a very 
different stamp, who became her disciple through Neri di Lan- 
doccio and Nigi di Doccio, and who has left us his memoirs, was 
Ser Cri stofano di Gano Gutdini , a notary. Cristofano belonged 
tothe faction of the Riformatori, held various small offices under 
the government, and is after years sat twice in the chief magistracy 
as one of the fifteen Defenders, After he had associated for some 
time with Catherine and her circle, he desired to abandon the 
world and enter the religious state, but yielded to the prayers of 
his mother and determined to marry. He has preserved to us 
the letter of advice that Catherine wrote to him on the choice of 
a wife, gently blaming him for his decision in abandoning the call 
to a higher life, but bidding him, in all he does, seek the honour 
of God and the salvation of his soul. 2 A simple and straight- 

1 Contestatlo Francisd de Makvoltls, cap, iii., MS. rfc, pp. 439, 440. 

1 Letter 43 (240). Cf. Memoritdi Ser Cristofano di Gano Guidini, pp. 31-33, 

8 9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



forward man, not without learning, he was, perhaps, the most 
practical member of the fellowship. 

It was probably through Ser Cristofano that a more important 
personage was brought into Catherine's sphere of influence ; the 
painter and democratic politician, Andrea di Vanni. Andrea di 
Vanni had taken part in the revolutionary movement that had 
brought about the supremacy of the Rtformatori, and was a man 
of weight in the counsels of the new magistrates of the Republic, 
much employed in important embassies. He was intimate with 
the worthy notary, and stood godfather to his eldest son. There 
is no reason for supposihg that he actually became one of 
Catherine's spiritual family, and her letters to him, written when 
he was filling the office 'of Captain of the People, are of a later 
date. He was a loyal and conscientious politician according to 
the lights of his day, and a virile painter, with a noble and 
striking ideal of the Blessed Virgin in his art* 1 The most im- 
portant of his surviving works is the large altar-piece in the church 
of Santo Stefano, on the Lizza ; but, restored and repainted though 
it be, he would be graceless indeed who could look unmoved 
upon that strange, unearthly, almost uncouth, but immeasurably 
touching and appealing portrait of Catherine from his hand that 
still watches over the Cappella delle Volte in San Domenico. 

That a young woman should thus be surrounded with men, 
some of them no older than herself, gave food to cynical thoughts 
and slanderous tongues. The bitterest of all accusations for 
Catherine to bear was made against her. A woman named 

and Grottanelli, Oraziont di Santa Brtgida (Siena, 1867), p. 4. Cristofano wrote 
a life of Giovanni Colombini, translated Catherine's Dialogs into Latin, and had 
an Italian version of the Revelations of St. Bridget copied for the Confraternity of 
Our Lady. 

1 Cf. F. M. Perkins, Andrea Fanni, in the Burftngton Magazine, vol. iL 
(London, 1903). He seems to have called himself "And**a di Vanni," Vanni 
becoming a family name tn later times. Various documents concerning his public 
life, with certain of his letters to the Signoria when ambassador to the Pope 
(1 373, 1384, 1385), arc given by G. Milanesi, Document} per la Staria detP Arte 
Senese, vol. i. does. 90-95, 137, and Borghcsi and Banchi, Nttovi document! y pp. 

*7i 54* 5S- 

90 






THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 



Andrea, whom she was tending while dying slowly of cancer, 
accused her to the prioress and sisters of the Mantellate as guilty 
of unchastity. In spite of Lapa's vehement indignation, Catherine 
nursed her traducer lovingly to the end, and at last gained her 
soul, too, for her Divine Bridegroom, In the first pang of the 
lying accusation* she had prayed to Him with tears to prove her 
innocence ; but when, in answer, He bade her choose between 
the crown of pearls and the crown of thorns, she eagerly and 
ardently pressed the latter upon her brows. It was on this 
occasion that, to punish herself for a momentary fit of aversion 
caused by the horrible physical state of the patient's body, 
Catherine subjected herself to an ordeal too dreadful to be set 
down in this place. 

u Sweetest daughter, 11 said the Divine Voice in her heart, on 
another occasion, u the time to come of thy earthly pilgrimage 
will be full of such wondrous new gifts from Me that it will cause 
stupor and incredulity in the hearts of the ignorant and carnal ; 
and many, too, that love thee will doubt, and will think that what 
will befall thee through My exceeding love is delusion. For I 
will pour such abundance of grace into thy soul that it will over- 
flow wondrously even in thy body, which will thereby acquire an 
all unwonted mode of life. Thy heart will be so mightily in- 
flamed towards the salvation of thy neighbours that, forgetting 
thine own sex, thou wilt utterly change thy former way of con- 
versation, nor wilt thou any more shun the company of men and 
women ; nay, for the salvation of their souls, thou wilt expose 
thyself to every labour according to thy power. At these things 
many will be scandalized, and by them shalt thou be spoken 
against that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. But 
be not thou disturbed, nor fear at all ; for I shall be ever with 
thee, and shall deliver thy soul from deceitful tongues and from 
the mouth of those that lie. So execute manfully whatever the 
Holy Spirit instructs thee, because through thee I will deliver 
many souls from the jaws of Hell, and, by means of My grace, 
bring them to the Kingdom of Heaven/' l 
1 Legemia, II. v. i (§ 165). 
9 I 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



It was probably about this time that a last ajtemgt^from the 
religious portion of the city was made to hinder Catherine's work, 
and it came from two men In Siena who were, in Francesco 
Malavolti's words, u religious of very great worth according to 
the world* 11 One, Fra Gabriele da Volterra , a Franciscan and 
then minister of the province, a " Master in Sacred Theology, 1 * 
with a great reputation for learning and preaching, was a sort of 
petty Brother Ellas, who lived sumptuously in the convent of 
San Francesco like a great prelate. The other was a friar of the 
order of Augustinian hermits, Fra Giovanni Tantucci (usually 
known as Giovanni Terzo, to distinguish him from two other 
" Brother Johns M who had preceded him in his convent), also a 
<c Master in Sacred Theology/' who had been to England, where 
he had taken his doctor's degree at the University of Cambridge, 
These two murmured against Catherine, in orthodox pharisaical 
fashion, saying that she was an ignorant woman, seducing simple 
persons with false expositions of holy Scripture, and leading them 
to hell with herself They resolved to make her recognize her 
errors, and came one day to visit her, with two companions, 
intending to silence her by difficult theological questions, A 
number of men and women were with her when they arrived ; 
Fra Tommaso della Fonte, Fra Matteo Tolomei, a certain Niccolo 
di Mino, Tommaso di Guelfaccio, Neri di Landoccio, Gabriele 
Piccolomini, Alessa, Lisa, Cecca, and others, including Francesco 
Malavolti, who tells the tale of what happened. 

u While we were thus listening to the saintly and wonderful 
words and doctrine of that holy virgin, she suddenly broke off 
in her speech, and, becoming all enkindled and with countenance 
all glowing, she raised her eyes to heaven, and said : c Blessed be 
Thou, sweet and eternal Bridegroom, who dost find so many 
new ways and paths by which to draw or lead souls to Thyself.' 
And she said many other words, which I do not remember 
exactly, and would not be able to repeat in the form in which 
they were uttered by her. But we were all attention, consider- 
ing what she did, for her motions and all her words were full of 
mystery nor without particular cause ; so we were expecting 

92 






THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 



the end that the matter must needs have. Then the father 
Fra Tommaso, her confessor, said to her : 'Tell me, daughter, 
what is the meaning of what thou hast just done ? What dost 
thou mean ? Let us understand something about it/ But she, 
like an obedient daughter, answered : ■ My father, you will soon 
see two great fishes caught in the nets ' ; and said no more. We 
still by these words did not know what she meant to say ; but, 
while we were thus in suspense and expecting the end of the 
affair, one of the virgin's women companions, who lived in the 
house with her, said : * Mother, there is here below Master 
Gabriele da Volterra of the Friars Minor, with a companion, and 
Master Giovanni Terzo of the friars of St Augustine, also with 
a companion, who wish to come to you/ M 

As Catherine was going to meet them, the two came into the 
room. They sat down, and the others grouped themselves round, 
as they said that they wished to say nothing to her in secret. 
Then, a like two furious lions," the Franciscan and the Augustinian 
in turn began to ply her with the most difficult theological 
questions, hoping to put her to confusion before her friends and 
disciples, u But the Holy Spirit, who deserteth none that trust 
in Him, did not desert this humble handmaiden of His, but 
granted her so great wisdom and fortitude, that if there had been 
not only two such men, but even a thousand or ten thousand, she 
would have overthrown aU, and won a magnificent triumph over 
them, even as that same Holy Spirit said through the mouth of 
David : A thousand shall fall at thy side y and ten thousand at thy 
right handy All aflame with divine zeal, yet with the utmost 
reverence for her two opponents, Catherine rebuked their inflated 
and unprofitable science, their setting their hearts upon the praises 
of creatures, and spoke so winning ly of the love of Christ that 
the two were instantly converted. Master Gabriele was living in 
such pomp that in his convent he had made himself one cell out 
of three, and furnished it so sumptuously that it would have been 
excessive for a cardinal, including "a most noble bed with a silk 
covering and curtains round it, and so many other things that, 
together with his books, they would be worth hundreds of ducats, 

n 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Taking the keys from his girdle, he said before us all : k Is there 
no one here who will go to distribute and give away for the love 
of God what I have in my cell ? ' Then uprose Niccolo di Mino 
and Tommaso di Guelfaccto, and, taking the keys, they said to 
him : ' What would you have us do ? ' And Master Gabriele 
answered them : c Go into my cell, and whatever you find therein 
distribute and give away for the love of God, so that nothing be 
left me in it save my breviary/ " They took him at his word, 
distributed his books among the other friars of the convent who 
were students, and gave the rest to the poor, leaving only what 
was sufficient for a humble Franciscan friar of the strict observ- 
ance. Gabriele himself shortly after went to Santa Croce at 
Florence, and there set himself to serving the friars in the refec- 
tory and other acts of humility, although he was still the minister 
of the province. Master Giovanni, also, gave away all he had, 
keeping only the breviary, and became one of Catherine's im- 
mediate followers, afterwards accompanying her in her travels 
until her death. He was one of the three confessors who were 
deputed by the Pope to hear the confessions of those who were 
converted by her means. 1 

It was doubtless through Maestro Giovanni Tantucci that 
Catherine was brought into touch with the hermits of L eeeeto , 
The convent of San Sal va tore di Lecceto was the head house in 
Tuscany of the Augustinian hermits, " a blessed place," writes its 
seventeenth century historian, Ambrogio Landucci, "in which 
the Most High chose to work so many wonders. 11 It lies beyond 
Belcaro, a few miles westward of Siena, in what still remains of a 
once glorious forest of ilex trees. The place was originally 
known as the Convento di Selva, the Convent of the Wood, 
which was also called the Selva di Lago t because of the lake or 
swamp (afterwards drained) that lay at the foot of the hill upon 
which, solitary and austere, the convent still rises. From remote 
middle ages, wonderful legends had lingered round the convent 
and forest. Miraculous waters had gushed out of the arid soil ; 
the stones had taken mystical colours in commemoration of Him 
1 Contestath Franclsd di Makvohh y cap. Hi., MS, riA, pp. 441-445, 

94 






THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 

who was crucified ; the flowers of the forest had wonderful 
healing properties, *'* all evident signs that here flourished a 
continual spring of Paradise/' Angels had descended in human 
form to eat with the hermits in their refectory, or to succour 
them in their need ; Christ Himself had appeared in the wood to 
confirm the young friar, Giovanni di Guccio, in his vocation ; but 
fiends lurked in it, ready to ensnare the souls of the unwary, 
even as the young Stenese knight, Ambrogio Sansedoni, walking 
heedlessly under the ilexes, had been confronted with what seemed 
a beautiful girl bound by two ruffians to a tree, who was only 
revealed in her true nature at the sign of the Cross. 

The great days of the convent, however, were a thing of the 
past, although the house was still ruled by Fra Niccolu Tini, the 
prior whose sweetness of disposition, boundless humility and 
charity, are so lovingly extolled by his novice, Filippo Agazzari. 
Both Fra Niccolo Tini and Fra Filippo must have been living 
at the convent during the whole time of Catherine's life ; but 
she appears to have had no dealings with the -former (to whom 
she refers indirectly only in one letter), nor does the latter, in his 
fascinating sfssempri } ever make any mention of her or any of her 
followers. It is, indeed, somewhat startling to find a contem- 
porary Sienese, evidently of holy life and devout conversation, 
who must have frequently seen Catherine, or, at least, have heard 
all about her, in after years picturing the religious and social life 
of his day as though no such person had ever existed/ There 
was evidently a party opposed to Catherine in the convent. It 
is, at least, certain that none of the friars in Lecceto who now 
became Catherine's disciples — William Flete, Felice de* Tancredi 
(known as Fra Felice da Massa), Antonio da Nizza, or Giovanni 
Tantucci himself — make any appearance in Fra Filippo's pages, 



1 Fra NiccoI6 Tini (said to have been a Marescotti) was prior of Lccccto 
from 1332 till 1388. His life is related in Fra Filippo 1 s Jjsempro 41, Filippo 
entered under him as a novice in 1353, began to write his Aumprt in 1 397, and 
was elected prior in 1398. Giovanni Tantucci (who died in 1391) apparently 
succeeded Fra Niccol6 as prior. Cf. Carpellini, Git Atampri di Fra Fifippo da 
Sitna, pp. xxvi., xxvii., and Landucci, Sacra Leccctana Setva, pp. 103-109. 

95 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and the first of these, at least, was a man of some fame in those 
days. 

William Flete was an Englishman from Cambridge, who had 
setded down among the Augustinian hermits at Lecceto, led, 
perhaps, to that spot by his acquaintance with Giovanni Tantucci, 
who had probably been his fellow-student by the banks of Cam, 
In Catherine's circle these two scholars were usually spoken of by 
their academic degrees, Giovanni being the " Master," and 
William the (< Bachelor," In the wood of ilexes, he led a life 
more austere than his rule enjoined upon him ; devoting himself 
to works of penance and to study ; avoiding all intercourse with 
outsiders, and associating but little with the other friars, returning 
only to the convent in the evening or for the offices of the 
Church. 1 

It is clear from one of Catherine's letters to him that it seemed 
to her that the good hermit of England attached too much 
importance to mortification for its own sake. There are those, 
she tells him, * who have set their desire more in mortifying the 
body than in slaying their own will. These are fed at the table of 
penance, and are good and perfect ; but, if they have not a great 
humility and do not take consolation in judging according to the 
will of God and not according to that of men, they often mar their 
perfection by making themselves judges of those who do not go 
by the same road as they. And this befalls them because they 
have set more zeal and desire in mortifying the body than in 
slaying their own will. Such as these ever wish to choose times 
and places and mental consolations in their own way, as also the 
tribulations from the world and the assaults of the demon ; 
saying, to deceive themselves, being deceived by their own will 
(which is called spiritual will) : 1 1 would have this consolation, 
and not these assaults and turmoils of the demon ; not s indeed, 
for my own sake, but to please and possess God more, because it 
seems to me that I possess Him better in this way than in that/ 

1 Cf. Memarie di Ser Crisfofano, etc., p. 34. William Flete had previously 
known Giovanni Colombini, who sends a message to him and to the prior, LttUrc 
dtl B* Giovanni Colombini, 80, 

96 



THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 



And thus such a one often falls into pain and weariness, and 

becomes thereby unbearable to himself ; and so mars his perfect 

state. The taint of pride lies within this, and he perceives it not. 

For, if he were truly humble and not presumptuous, he would 

surely see that the first sweet Truth gives state, time, place, 

consolation, and tribulation, according as it is necessary for our 

salvation, and to complete in the soul the perfection to which she is 

chosen. And he would see that it gives everything for love, 

and therefore with love/ 1 The souls that have this perfect light, 

enamoured and panting with love, run to the table of holy desire, 

** They lose themselves, stripping off the old man, that is, their 

own sensuality, and they clothe themselves with the new man, 

Christ sweet Jesus, following Him manfully. These are they 

who are fed at the table of holy desire, and who have set their 

solicitude more in slaying their own will than in slaying or in 

mortifying the body* They have, indeed, mortified the body, 

but not as their chief aim, but merely as an instrument to aid them 

in slaying their own will ; for their chief aim should be, and is, 

to slay the will, so that it neither seek nor will aught save to 

follow Christ crucified, seeking the honour and glory of His name 

and the salvation of souls. These are ever in peace and its quiet. 

No one can scandalize them, because they have got rid of the 

thing by which scandal comet h, to wit, their own will, AH the 

persecution that the world and the devil can give flows under 

their feet ; they stand in the water, holding fast to the branches of 

inflamed desire, and are not submerged. Such a soul rejoices at 

everything ; and she does not judge the servants of God, nor any 

rational creature ; nay, she rejoices at every state and every way 

that she sees, saying : * Thanks be to Thee, eternal Father, who 

hast many mansions in Thy house/ And she rejoices more at the 

diverse ways she sees than if she saw all going along one path ; 

because she sees the greatness of God*s goodness more clearly 

revealed. She rejoices at everything, and draws the perfume of the 

rose from all. And she does not pass judgment even upon what 

she expressly sees to be sin, but is touched with true and holy 

compassion, saying: * To-day it is thou, and to-morrow it 

7 97 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



would be myself, were it not for the divine grace that preserves 



me 



i „ ! 



And, a little later, we find her urging him and Frate Antonio 
(the hermit of Nice who, Cristofano di Gano tells us, was the 
Englishman's chosen companion) not to let their love of solitude 
draw them from their duties of obedience and charity : — 

**I tell you, in the name of Christ crucified, that not only 
should you say Mass in the convent sometimes in the week when 
the prior wishes it, but I want you to say it every day, if you see 
that it is his wish. Because you lose your consolations, you do 
not lose the state of grace ; nay, rather, you acquire it, when you 
lose your own will. I want us (in order that we may show our- 
selves eaters of souls and tasters of our neighbours) not to attend 
only to our own consolations ; we must also care and have com- 
passion for the labours of our neighbours, and especially for those 
who are united in one same bond of charity. If you did not so, 
it would be a very great fault. And, therefore, I wish you to be 
sure to listen to the troubles and needs of Frate Antonio, and I 
wish and pray Frate Antonio to listen to yours. And so I beseech 
you, in Christ's name and mine, to do. In this way you will 
preserve true charity in yourselves, and, otherwise, you would 
give room to the devil to sow discord." 2 

Another early member of the spiritual family was Messer 
Matteo di Fazio de' Cenni, " a notable servant of God/ 1 who, 
after a dissolute youth, had been converted by the influence of 
William Flete, and was now devoting himself to an active life of 
charity as rector of the Casa della Misericordia, one of the chief 
Sienese hospitals, Sano di Maco, a plebeian who had business 
connections with the Benincasa family and was a person of some 
influence with the artisan government, also became one of Cathe- 
rine's sons in religion* An old hermit, Fra Santi da Teramo, 
u holy alike in name and in deeds,'* an anchorite from the Abruzzi 
who had been intimately associated with Pietro Petroni and 
Giovanni Colombini, likewise joined the circle. "In his old 
age, M writes Raimondo, " finding this precious pearl, the virgin 
1 Letter 64 (124). * Letter 77 (128). 

98 









THE SPIRITUAL FELLOWSHIP 

Catherine, he left the quiet of his cell and his former mode of life, 
in order that he might help others as well as himself, and followed 
her, especially because of the signs and wonders that he daily saw 
both in himself and in others ; declaring that he found greater 
quiet and consolation of mind, as also greater advance in virtue, 
by following her and listening to her teaching, than he had ever 
found in the solitude of his cell.*' 1 

Two others, whose names were destined to be linked more 
intimately with that of Catherine, were still needed to complete 
the fellowship : Raimondo da Capua himself, and that young 
countryman and beloved disciple of the saintly maiden, to whom 
at the last he could appeal in testimony of the truth of the whole 
of his Life of their spiritual mistress : 4< He is the witness of 
almost all this narration, in such wise that I can say with John 
the Evangelist : he kmweth that he saith true. He, that is, 
Stefano the Carthusian, knoweth that Raimondo of the order 
of Preachers saith true, who, albeit unfit and unworthy, has 
composed this Legend." 



1 Legenda, III. i. 10 (§ 340). 
Pttrmi, III. 6. 



Cf. Bnrtholomaeus Senensis, Vita B* Pttrt 



99 



CHAPTER VI 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

" Bu scan do mis amoret, 

Ire por eiot montei y riberat , 

Ni cogere la« flores r 

Ni temer£ laa ficras, 

Y pasare los fuertea y front eras/' 

San Juan de la Crux, Gamciones mtft *i Alma y ei £j/wjo. 



for Siena. Plots 



the 



These were stormy days for biena. Flots against 
supremacy of the Riformatori were incessant, and the government 
retaliated by torture and executions. At the beginning of 1371, 
a conspiracy was discovered , and two culprits were sentenced to 
be aitanagliati, that is, torn by hot pincers on a cart all through 
the city to the place of execution, Catherine was in the house of 
Alessa, when the dreadful pageant passed through the street 
^elow ; at her prayers, the horrible shrieks and despairing blasp- 
hemies of the condemned men were hushed at a vision of Christ 
that came to meet them at the gate of the city, " and they went 
to death as joyously as though they were invited to a banquet." 

In the July of this year, a formidable rising of the Compagnia 
del Bruco, a secret association of the wool-carders, who were 
subjected to the Guild of Wool, and forbidden the right of com- 
bination, shook for a moment the whole fabric of the State, It 
was a curious anticipation of the tumult of the Cicmpi in Florence, 
seven years later, For several days the insurgents held the city 
at their mercy, and compelled the government to put seven of their 
f own number into the Signoria. This was followed by a counter 
\ conspiracy of the Dodicini and their allies, with the connivance of 
) the Captain of the People, Francesco di Naddo, supported by the 
Salimbeni. There was a sanguinary massacre in the Costa d'G- 
vile on July 30 ; but, in spite of the defection of their chiefs, 
the armed companies of the city kept loyal to the government, and, 
with the aid of the Noveschi and nobles, the rising was crushed. 
The Captain of the People, robed in scarlet, was beheaded on a 

100 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



scarlet-covered scaffold in the middle of the Campo. The 
Dodicini were excluded from the administration, the central 
magistracy now consisting of twelve of the u People of the Greater 
Number " and three Noveschu Among the citizens condemned 
to pecuniary penalties was Nanni di Ser Vanni Savini, "famous 
among those who were devoted to the world and full of the 
prudence of the flesh/* as Fra Raimondo says of him, who was 
sentenced to pay a fine of five hundred florins ; a little later, we 
shall find him among Catherine's disciples. 1 

Almost immediately after leaving the seclusion of her father's 
house, we find Catherine in touch with the politics of her native 
city, and with the great questions that were agitating the whole 
Church. Not only are the spears and swords of contending 
factions lowered before her as she passes along the streets of 
Siena, but the princes and potentates of Italy seem to realize 
instantly that a new spiritual power has arisen in the land, and 
from Avignon the Pope himself would fain know the secrets that 
Christ had hidden from His vicar to reveal to the simple maiden 
whom He had made His bride. 

This was in part due to the effect produced upon Gregory's 
mind by the revelations of Birgitta. From the beginning of his 
pontificate, the Swedish princess had exhorted the new Pope to 
repair the scandal caused by the defection of his predecessor. In 
a vision she heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin, promising that, 
if Gregory will restore the papal chair to Rome and reform the 
Church, her prayers will flood his soul with spiritual joy from her 
divine Son ; if not> he will assuredly feel the rod of Christ's 
indignation ; his life will be cut short, and he will be summoned 
to the judgment of God. She wrote to bid the Pope come to 
Italy by the beginning of the following April (apparently of 1372) 
at the latest, if he would still have the Blessed Virgin as a mother 
and escape the judgments of God. There will be no peace in 
France until the people appease God by some great works of 
humility and piety ; as for the expedition which the Pope is 
organizing to redeem the sepulchre of Christ with mercenary 
1 Cronka Santsc, col. 228. Cf. Lcgtnda^ II. viu 



•5T 



"7 



*JS). 



101 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



soldiers, that will no more please Him than did the worship of 
the Golden Calf, 1 

At Birgitta's bidding, the hermit-bishop Alfonso brought this 
letter to Perugia, and entrusted it to the Count of Nola for 
transmission to the Pope, A copy was shown to the Count and 
to a sinister personage, of whom more presently, the papal nuncio, 
the Abbot of Marmoutier, and then destroyed, after its contents 
had been communicated to Cardinal d'Estaing, as also to Gomez 
Albornoz, who had been converted by Birgitta and was then 
holding Spoleto for the Church. But there was one significant 
passage in the revelation which was reserved for Gregory alone. 
R Unless the Pope/' said Birgitta to Alfonso (speaking in the 
person of the Blessed Virgin), "comes to Italy at the time and in 
the year appointed, the lands of the Church, which are now united 
under his sway and obedience, will be divided in the hands of his 
enemies. To augment the tribulation of the Pope, he will not 
only hear, but will also see with his own eyes that what I say is 
true, nor will he be able with all the might of his power to reduce 
the said lands of the Church to their former state of obedience 
and peace. These words that I now say to thee are not yet to be 
told or written to the Abbot, for the seed is hidden in the earth 
until it fructifies in ears of corn/* 3 This prophecy was soon to 
be fulfilled to the letter, and in part at the Abbot's cost. 

Gregory, who had bidden the Abbot demand an explanation 
of the first revelation, returned no answer to the second ; and 
Birgitta, seeing no hope of his present coming, started for the 
Holy Land, in the autumn of 137 1, accompanied by Alfonso, her 
two sons, Birger and Charles, and others. At Naples, Charles fell 
in love with the still beautiful Queen, and Giovanna, allured by 
the splendid manhood of the young northern warrior, returned 
his passion. Both of them were married, but the Queen is said 
to have contemplated obtaining a divorce and to have suggested 
the same to him. An adulterous connection of this kind seemed 






1 Revdatlmeu IV. 139, 140, 

3 Ibid., IV, 140, Cf. Comtcssc dc Flavignjr, Sainte Brlgtte dt Suidt, pp. 



402. 



102 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



to Birgitta worse than death, and when, before any steps had 
been taken, Charles died at the beginning of March, she welcomed 
it as his deliverance. 1 She left Naples immediately after the 
funeral, and, going by way of Cyprus, reached Jerusalem early 
in May. In October, she was back in Naples, where she found 
the pestilence raging in that gayest and most licentious of cities. 
Here she began, apparently at the request of the Queen and 
Archbishop, to preach repentance, urging the latter to attempt a 
complete reformation of the Neapolitan church by correcting the 
immoral lives of its prelates and priests. She exhorted Giovanna 
herself to confession and a complete amendment of life, warning 
her to set the affairs of the kingdom in order, for that God had 
declared that she would have no heir of her body ; — 

* € Let her acquire greater humility and contrition for her sins, 
for in My sight she is a robber of many souls, a lavish squanderer 
of My goods, a rod and a tribulation to My friends. Let her 
have continual fear in her heart, for all her time she has led the 
life of a harlot rather than of a queen. Let her devote the rest 
of her time, which is brief, to My honour. Let her fear, and so 
live that she incur not My judgment. Otherwise, if she will not 
hear Me, I will judge her, not as a queen, but as an ungrateful 
apostate." 2 

Praying for the Pope on the feast of St. Polycarp, January 
$> 26, 1373, Birgitta had a vision of Christ, who told her that 
Gregory was fettered by his excessive love for his own kindred 
and his coldness of mind towards Him, but that, through Our 
Lady's prayers, he would overcome all obstacles and come to 
Rome. M But whether thou shak see him come or not, is not 
lawful for thee to know." In February, she despatched the 
hermit-bishop to Avignon with a long letter to the Sovereign 
Pontiff, describing another vision, in which she beheld Gregory 
himself standing before the throne of the heavenly Judge, and 
heard the terrible rebuke addressed to him : u Why hatest thou 

1 Cf. Comtcwe dc Flavtgnjr, tp.df., pp. 41 1-4 15. Giovanna's third husband, 
James of Majorca, died in 1375. Cronicon Skstlum (ed. J. dc Blasiis), p. 28. 
* Revekthnes, VI I. 11. 

103 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Me so ? Why is thy daring and thy presumption so great 
against Me ? For thy mundane court is plundering My celestial 
Court. Thou in thy pride dost take My sheep from Me ; thou 
dost unlawfully seize upon the goods of the Church, which are 
Mine own, and the goods of the subjects of the Church, to give 
them to thy temporal friends. Thou dost rob My poor for the 
sake of thy rich. Too great is thy audacity and presumption. 
What have I done to thee, Gregory ? I patiently permitted thee 
to ascend to the Supreme Pontificate, and foretold to thee My 
will, and promised thee a great reward, How hast thou repaid 
Me for all My benefits ? Why dost thou make reign in thy 
court such great pride, insatiable cupidity, and the lust that I 
hate, and likewise the most horrible simony ? Moreover, thou 
dost rob Me of innumerable souls ; for almost all who come to 
thy court dost thou cast into the hell of fire, In that thou dost not 
*v| attend to the things that pertain to My Court, albeit thou art the 
prelate and pastor of My sheep. The fault is thine, because 
thou dost not wisely consider what is to be done for their spiritual 
salvation, and what to be corrected. And albeit I could with 
justice condemn thee for these things, yet do 1 still admonish 
thee, for the salvation of thy soul, that thou come to Rome, to thy 
seat, as quickly as thou canst. Come, then, and do not delay. 
Come not with thy wonted pride and mundane pomp, but with 
humility and ardent charity ; and, after thou art thus come, 
extirpate and root out all the vices from thy court. Put far 
from thee the counsels of thy carnal and worldly friends, and 
humbly follow the counsels of My spiritual friends. Rise up 
manfully, put on thy strength, and begin to renovate My Church, 
which I acquired with My own blood ; let it be brought back in 
spirit to its primitive holy state, for now it is a house of shame 
that is venerated rather than Holy Mother Church* But, if thou 
dost not obey My will, I will cast thee down from the Court of 
Heaven, and all the devils of hell shall divide thy soul, and for 
benediction thou shalt be filled with eternal malediction. If thou 
dost obey Me in this way, I will receive thee like a tender Father ; 
I will be merciful to thee, and will bless thee, and will robe and 

104 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



deck thee with the pontifical vestments of a true Pope ; I will 
clothe thee with Myself, so that thou wilt be in Me and I ia thee, 
and thou shalt possess eternal glory/' 1 

The Queen, whose heart had been for a little moved by 
Birgitta's words, supplied her with means to return to Rome, 
which she reached at the beginning of Lent. Here the Count of 
Nola and the Abbot of Marmoutier came to her from the Pope, 
to ask for light, and, like the Pharisees of old, to demand a sign, 
now that the renewal of hostilities between the Church and 
Bernabo Visconti seemed to raise a fresh obstacle to his return. 
In answer, early in July, Birgitta wrote her last letter to Alfonso, 
which he was to show to the Pope. Let Gregory do what lies in 
him for the honour of God, the salvation of souls, and the 
renovation of the Church, and he will have a sign of eternal 
consolation. But, if he does not come, he will have a sign of 
another kind, in the loss of things both temporal and spiritual, 
and in the remorse of his own conscience. As to the discord 
between the Pope and Bernabo, with such danger to innumerable 
souls, let the former come to terms. <ft For, even if the Pope 
were expelled from the popedom, it were better that he should 
humble himself and make peace on whatever occasion it could be 
done, rather than so many souls perish in eternal damnation." 
Let him trust in God alone, and, though all dissuade him from 
coming to Rome, and do all in their power to hinder him, none 
of them shall prevail over him. " Thus saith the Lord : Since 
the Pope doubts whether he should come to Rome for the 
establishment of peace and the reformation of My Church, I 
would have him come by all means in the coming autumn. And 
let him know that he can do nothing more pleasing to Me than 
coming to Italy." 2 

A few days later, on J uly 23, 1373, Birgitta died. Her 
daughter Catherine took the body to Sweden, and then returned 
to Rome, to await the coming of the Pope that her mother had 
promised. Petrarca died in the following year. And, in the 
meanwhile, the other Catherine had taken up the work that the 



1 Reveiatimes, IV. 141, 142. 



mm, iv. 143, 



105 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Italian poet and the Swedish princess alike had left uncompleted, 
beginning with those two formidable prelates of the Church 
Militant whom we have seen meeting over Birgitta's revelations 
— Cardinal d'Estaing and the Abbot of Marmoutier, 

Cardinal d'Estaing, although upright and strenuous, had 
proved a stern and unpopular ruler of Perugia. At the end of 
1371, the Pope appointed him to the legation of Bologna, in 
succession to Cardinal Anglico de Grimoard, while his place at 
Perugia was taken by Cardinal Philippe de Cabassole, Petrarca's 
friend, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, a mild-tempered and amiable 
prelate who won golden opinions from the Perugians during the 
few months of his government. In January, 1372, d'EsJaipg 
made a pompous triumphal entry into Bologna, received with 
acclamation by the inhabitants, who saw in film the champion of 
their liberty against Bernabo Visconti : " He was reputed a very 
great and upright man," says the chronicler, " and they said that 
he had great legatorial powers, and more authority from the 
Pope than had ever been given to any other representative of the 
Church/* 1 In the following August, Cardinal de Cabassole died, 
and was succeeded by the Abbot of Marmoutier (who had come 
to Italy in the preceding year as treasurer general of the Church), 
who now governed Perugia and the Patrimony and Spoleto, 
with the title of vicar apostolic, the troops being still under the 
command of Gomez Albornoz. 

(Now) begins the series of Catherine's letters. And among 
the first of them that we can date with any approach to certainty 
are the two to Cardinal d'Estaing, in his capacity of legate of 
Bologna and chief representative of the Pope in Italy. They are, 
as it were, the frontispiece to the whole mystical volume of her 
epistles. They give us at once the essence of her spiritual ized 
political doctrine. Italy is the prologue, peace the epilogue. 
Love of Charity ts the rule ; self-love and servile fear the 
enemies to be overthrown. The philosophy that she has learned 
from the Prince of Peace in her cell of self-knowledge is applied 
to the political state of the Church and of the world. Already is 
1 Cronica d\ Bologna, coll. 491, 492, 
IO6 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

her soul overwhelmed by that impassioned dream of a reformation 
of the Church down to its very foundations — infino alle fondamenta, 
to use her own words — which is soon to lead her across the Alps, 
the ambassador of Christ as well as of Florence, the maiden image 
of the Italian people, to reconcile the Pope with Italy, to bring 

% him back to Rome. 

| i-> It was early in 1372 that Catherine first addressed a letter to 
Cardinal d'Estaing, opening with a play upon the words legato 
and Legato^ which it is impossible to render in English, u Dearest 
and reverend father in Christ sweet Jesus/ 1 she begins ; " I, 
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write 
to you in His precious blood, with the desire of seeing you bound 
in the .bond of charity even as you have been made Legate in 
Italy, 1 as I have heard, and at which I have been greatly and 
singularly delighted, considering that by this you will be able to 
do much for the honour of God and the weal of Holy Church. 
But you know that we can effect no work of grace in ourselves, 
nor for our neighbour, without charity ; charity is that sweet and 
holy bond which binds the soul with her Creator ; it bound God 
in man and man in God. This inestimable charity kept God 
and Man fastened and nailed upon the wood of the most holy 
Cross." It is charity alone that unites the separated, enriches 
the poor in virtue, makes wars to cease, gives patience and 
perseverance, and can never be shaken, because it is founded on 
the living Rock, on Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. 
Bound in this love, let the representative of the Sovereign Pontiff 
follow in the footsteps of Christ : — 

" I would have you then, like a true son and servant bought 
back by the blood of Christ crucified, follow His footsteps, with 
manly heart and ready zeal, never turning aside by reason either 
of pain or pleasure, but persevering even to the end in this, and 
in every other work which you undertake to do for Christ 
crucified. Strive to extirpate the iniquities and the miseries of 
the world, which come from the many sins that men commit, by 
which the name of God is shamed ; do your utmost, as one 
1 Legato nclltgame delta carith s\ come tetefatto Legato* 
107 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

hungry for His honour and for the salvation of your neighbour, 
to find a remedy for all this. I am certain that, if you are bound 
in the sweet bond of charity, you will use your legation, which 
you have received from the Vicar of Christy in this way. But, 
without the first bond of chanty, you cannot use it so, nor do 
what you ought ; and, therefore, I pray you to try to have this 
love in you. Bind yourself with Christ crucified, following His 
footsteps with true and royal virtues, and bind yourself with your 
neighbour by deeds of love. But I would have us think, dearest 
father, that, unless our soul is stripped of all self-love and worldly 
affection, we can never come to this true and perfect love, the 
bond of charity ; because one love is so contrary to the other, 
that the one separates us from God and our neighbour, while the 
other unites us ; one gives life, and the other death ; one gives 
darkness, and the other light ; one war, and the other peace. 
Self-love so narrows the heart that it leaves no room for you or 
your neighbour ; but divine charity enlarges it, receiving into 
itself friends and enemies and every rational creature, because it 
is clothed with the love of Christ and therefore follows Him. 
Miserable self-love abandons justice and commits injustice, and 
has a servile fear which does not let it do jusdy what it should, 
either because of flatteries or for fear of losing its state. This is 
that perverse servitude and fear that led Pilate to slay Christ. I 
would have you, then, utterly lay aside this kind of love, and be 
founded in true and perfect charity, loving God for His own 
sake, inasmuch as He is worthy of being loved, because He is the 
supreme and eternal Goodness, and loving yourself for Him and 
your neighbour for Him, and not for your own advantage. 
Thus, then, my father, legate of our lord the Pope, would I have 
you bound in the bond of true and most ardent charity, and this 
does my soul desire to see in you," 1 

1 Letter 7 (23). The Palatine MS. 56 states that this letter was sent to the 
Cardinal u in Corncto, essendo nuovamentc fatto ine legato.** Students of the 
Inferno may remember that it was this legate, "vir magnac virtutis et scientiac," 
who, at the instigation of Benvenuto da Imola, made the stern, but ineffectual 
attempt to stamp out unnatural vice in the University of Bologna. Cf* Benvenuto, 
Comintern, I. pp. 523, 524, where for 1375 we should probably read 1373. 

108 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

And she follows this up with a second letter, M with desire of 
seeing you a virile and not cowardly man, so that you may 
manfully serve the Spouse of Christ, using both spiritual and 
temporal means for the honour of God, as this Spouse hath need 
in these times." Let him open the eyes of his understanding to 
see her necessities, and let him beware of servile fear (a favourite 
doctrine of Catherine's, which we find her repeating again and 
again in almost the same words). Let him look upon the im- 
maculate Lamb, who sought nought save the honour of the 
Father, and feared nothing, not even the shameful death of the 
Cross, " We are the scholars, who have been sent to this sweet 
and gentle school." And the time has come to put these lessons 
into practice : — 

** Striv e man fully, to the utmost of your power, to bring about 
the pea ce and union \ of the who le country. And if, for this holy 
work, it were necessary to give the lite of the body f it should be 
given a thousand times, if it were possible. It is a terrible thing 
to think and hear and see that we are at war with God, by reason 
of the multitude of the sins of the subjects and their pastors, and 
also in corporeal war by reason of the rebellion that has arisen 
against Holy Church. 1 Where all faithful Christians should be 
preparing to make war upon the infidels, false Christians are 
waging it against each other ; and the servants of God cannot 
contain themselves for grief and bitterness at seeing the damnation 
of souls who are perishing for this, and the demons are rejoicing, 
because they see what they want to see. Verily, then, it is time 
to give our lives in imitation of the Master of Truth, and to care 
nought for honour or shame that the world would give us in 
painful torments and death of the body. I am certain that you 
will do this manfully, if you are clothed with the new man, Christ 
Jesus, and stripped of the old, to wit, of your own sensuality ; for 
then you will have cast off servile fear ; in no other way would 
you ever do it, but would rather fall into the very sins I have 

1 i e, the war between Bernabo Visconti and the Holy See. Catherine, in 
her letter to Bernabo himself, describes it in the same way as u rebellion against 
Holy Church/* 

IO9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



named. Considering, then, that it was necessary for you to be a 
virile man, and without any fear, and freed from self-love (for you 
are put by God in an office that demands no fear save that which 
is holy) ; therefore, I said to you that I desired to see you manful 
and not timorous, I hope in the Divine Goodness that He will 
grant grace to you and to me, that is, to fulfil His will and your 
desire and mine. Peace 



reace 1 peace 



eace ! Dearest father, make the 

souls more than that of cities ; 
1 



Holy Father consider the loss o 

for God demands souls more than cities 

A man of a very different stamp from that of this great- 
hearted and zealous Cardinal was the other director of the papal 
policy in Italy* G£rard du Puy, Abbot of Marmoutier and 
nephew to Pope Gregory, was one of the worst of those rapacious 
wolves in sheep's clothing to whom the pastors of Avignon had 
entrusted their Ausonian flocks. While d'Estamg in his Bolog- 
nese legation was vigorously pursuing the campaign against the 
Visconti, without oppressing the subjects of the Church committed 
to his rule, the Abbot, supported by Hawkwood's mercenaries, 
was governing Perugia with the most detestable tyranny. To 
secure his hold upon the turbulent city, he was building two great 
fortresses, connected by a large covered way supported by arches, 
over which troops could pass to and fro. He ground down the 
people with taxes, excluded all the citizens, high and low, from his 
counsels, and ruled the province with corrupt notaries and foreign 
captains, He connived at the most outrageous licence of his 
officials, in which a nephew of his own was the worst offender, 
and to the protests of the injured parties returned an answer 
disgusting in its brutal cynicism. 2 ^Nevertheless, this detestable 
monk had been the intermediary between the Pope and Birgitta, 
and now, probably immediately after the Utters death in July, 
1373, he was bidden approach Catherine in the same way ; his 
papal uncle, unabashed by the rebuke of the Swedish prophetess, 

1 Letter 1 1 (24), Cf. Petrarca's canzone, halm mla : u V to gridando : Pace, 
pace, pace." 

2 Cf. Pellini, L pp. Mil, 1112 ; Supplement to Graziani, pp. 217-219; 
Montcmarte, I. p. 41 ; CHronkoft Rrgitttse (Rtr, It, Script, xviii.), col. 85, 

I IO 



> 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



was still seeking a sign like the Pharisees of old, and the fame of 
the maiden of Fonte Branda (probably through the report of the 
legate of Bologna) had penetrated even into the papal palace of 
Avignon. 

We do not know by what means his appeal was conveyed to/ 
Catherine, nor whether she was aware of the character of the! 
ecclesiastic with whom she was now dealing ; but her answer isl 
extant, and it is one of the most striking of her political letters. \ 
To this wicked man, too, she writes in the precious blood of] 
God : * ( with desire of seeing you a true priest, and a member 
bound in the body of Holy Church/* The 6rst part of the letter 
is an impassioned hymn to charity, by whose milk the soul lives, 
the love that binds the soul to Christ even as it bound the Son of 
God to the Cross, the fire that burns away vice and sin and love 
of self. All must follow this rule of love, purifying memory, 
understanding, and will in this divine fire. Above all, God 
demands from men in the position of the Abbot a zeal and 
solicitude for the salvation of souls. u This is the way of Christ 
crucified, who will always give us the light of peace. But, if we 
hold another way, we shall go from darkness to darkness, and 
ultimately to eternal death." Her answer to the Pope is that two 
things in particular are disfiguring the Church, and must be taken 
away : nepotism, "excessive tenderness and solicitude for kinsmen," 
and l eniency i n dealing with the wickedness of the clergy. " Christ 
specially hates three perverse vices : impurity, avarice, and the 
puffed-up pride which reigns in the Spouse of Christ, that is, in 
the prelates, who attend to nought save pleasures and states and 
excessive riches. They see the infernal demons carrying off the 
souls of their subjects, and they reck not of it, because they have 
become wolves and sellers of the divine grace." " I say not 
that the Spouse of Christ will not be persecuted ; but I believe 
that she will remain in flower. It is necessary, for her complete 
reformation, that she should be pulled down even to her founda- 
tions." As to the Abbot's own professed repentance : "I, your 
unworthy daughter, have taken and will take the debt of your 
sins upon myself, and we shall burn yours and mine together in 

1 1 1 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



the fire of sweet charity, where they are consumed- Hope and 
be assured that the divine grace has pardoned you them/' u You 
must chiefly labour together with the Holy Father, to the utmost 
of your power, in removing the wolves and incarnate demons of 
pastors who attend to nought save eating, and goodly palaces, and 
stout horses. Alas, that what Christ acquired upon the wood of 
the Cross is spent upon harlots ! I pray you that, even if you 
have to die for it, you tell the Holy Father to find a remedy for 
such great iniquities, and, when the time comes to make pastors 
and cardinals, not to make them for the sake of flattery nor for 
money nor for simony ; but, with all your power, pray him to heed 
and consider whether he finds virtue and good and holy repute in 
the man, and not to consider whether he is noble or plebeian ; 
for virtue is the thing that makes man noble and pleasing to 
God." 1 

This year, 1373, was marked by innumerable dissensions and 
homicides, especially among the religious and clergy. The Sienese 
chronicler declares that the Augustinian friars mu rdere d their 
provincial at Sant 1 Antonio (a convent of the order in the Sienese 
contado near the Bagni of Petri uolo) ; that, at Assisi, the Friars 
Minor fought with knives, and fourteen were killed ; and at 
Siena a young friar in San Domenico killed^ another, and every 
convent was divided against itself. The same thing went on 
outside the convents ; every order in the State was rent with plots 
and petty treasons ; * c and so the world is one darkness.** 2 The 
new Senator of Siena, Count Lodovico da Mogliano from the 
Marches, who entered upon office in February — u a man of discreet 
years, pacific and wise, who gave good hope to all the citizens " — 
attempted to restore order by impartial executions of noble and 
plebeian criminals alike ; but the only result was a series of riots, 
in which his own life was threatened, and all his household ran 
great risks of being massacred by the Sienese populace. 8 

Th ree of Cath erine's letters bear the impress of these event s. 
Writing to Fietro, priest of Semignano in the Sienese contado, 

1 Letter 109 (41).. f CronkaSmtse, col. 238. 

a IM., coll. 235, 236 ; O. MalavoJti, p, 141. 
112 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



d was at mortal feud with another priest and apparently leading 
a scandalous life in other respects, she sets before his eyes the 
dignity of the priesthood which he is outraging with his impurity 
and his hatred, and threatens him with the judgments of God, if 
he does not amend and make peace. H What a scandal it is to 
see two priests keep in deadly hatred ! It is a great miracle that 
God does not command the earth to swallow you both up. Comej 
then, while you are still in time to receive mercy ; hasten to 
Christ crucified, who will receive you benignly, if only you wish 
it ; and think that, if you do not so, that sentence will fall upon 
you which was given to the unjust servant to whom his master 
had forgiven his great debt, and who then would not remit a small 
one to his fellow-servant." And, in like manner, she bids the 
Provost and Jacorno di Manzi, two ecclesiastics of Casole, to 
follow the footsteps of the Lamb who made peace between God 
and man by shedding His blood upon the Cross, to turn their hate 
upon their own sins, and make peace with God and their neigh- 
bour. ll I beseech you, in the name of Christ crucified, not to 
deny me this grace/' To Madonna Mitarella da Mogliano, the 
wife of the Senator, who had written to her in terror, after the 
mob had assailed her husband, that she had *' no faith nor hope 
save in the prayers of the servants of God," she sent words of 
gentle comfort, and a reminder that not a leaf can fall from the 
tree without the permission and will of God. 1 

But letters were the smallest part of Catherine's activity at this 
time. Wherever men and women in Siena were in suffering or 
in need, she was always there. The sick were healed, the dying 
comforted when she stood by them ; hardened sinners were 
moved to repentance at her bidding, and heard the sweet assur- 
ance from her lips : u Fear not ; I have taken your sins upon 
myself/* " I never saw any person,'* writes Francesco JMalavolti, 
,c however badly disposed, of whatever condition or state, come to 
this virgin, whom the Holy Spirit had chosen, who ever departed 
from her without being first converted to good and without at once 
going to confess himself sacrarnen tally, laying aside all evil works 
1 Letters 59 (47), 3 (43), 31 {333). 



8 



**3 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and becoming entirely a new being," l Pietro di Giovanni Ven- 
tura tells us how, at the instance of his sister, he went to visit 
Catherine, He had not been to confession for seven years* 
" That virgin, raising her hands to heaven, then said ; 'Pietro, 
I will take all thy sins upon myself, and do penance for them, and 
make satisfaction for them instead of thee. But I wish for this 
grace, Pietro, from thee — that thou confess thy sins/ To which 
I answered, saying : * It is only a few days since I confessed 
them/ And she : * It is not so, for I know that it is seven years 
since thou wert confessed in the least' And she added : c Why 
wilt thou not go to confession ? ' And, albeit I had told no one 
of that matter, nevertheless she manifested it all to me, and even 
the cause for which until then I had been unwilling to confess." 2 
After that meeting Pietro became one of Catherine's most 
devoted followers and disciples, and, though once, for a brief 
moment, he wavered and asked for a sign, he was one of the little 
band that shared her fortunes down to the end. It was, perhaps, 
a foreknowledge of that moment's weakness that made Catherine 
address him a beautiful letterj ipon love and perseverance in the 
service of the beloved, 3 

i In northern Italy, Cardinal d'Estaing was strenuously carrying 
on hostilities against the Visconti : " he was a right valiant 
man," says the chronicler of Bologna, " and made more war 
upon the lords of Milan than any other legate who was here 
had done, save only him of Spain." 4 But the Tuscan Republics 
wavered between Bernabo and the Pope. At the beginning of 
November, 1373, two ambassadors from Bernabo and Galeazzo 
came to Siena. The latter seems to have soon returned to his 
master ; but Bernabo's envoy stayed on tC in the hostelry of the 
Ocha," until the following January, when, the Sienese regarding 
his presence as compromising, he was requested to leave the 
city, the Gonfaloniere of the Terzo di Camollia escorting him 

1 Contestant Frandsci de MaJapo/tb, cap. iii., MS. at., p. 440, 

2 Conies ratio Petri quondam Johanms Venture de Scnh f MS. eit. f p, 482, 
■ Letter 47 (235), 
4 Cr&nica di Bo/ogna, col. 496. 

114 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



ceremoniously out of the gate. 1 While in Siena, he sought an 
interview with Catherine, in the name of Bernabo and his 
ambitious wife, Beatrice della Scala — possibly with the idea of 
convincing her of the good intentions of his master, with a view 
to influencing the public opinion of the Sienese through her, now I 
that fresh processes were being instituted against the Viscontt 1 
at the papal court on account of their cruel oppression of the 1 
Milanese clergy. If this was his object, the ambassador was ] 
manifestly unsuccessful- 
Catherine promptly dictated to her secretaries the two long 
letters to Bernabo and Beatrice which we still possess. Unfor-' 
tunately, the passages at the end of the letters, in which she 
directly answers their requests or questions, were regarded by 
her contemporaries as of merely ephemeral interest, and have, 
therefore, not been preserved, either in the printed editions or 
in any of the manuscripts ; but, reading between the lines of 
her letter to Bernabo, we gather that the tyrant of Milan had 
tried to represent himself to the simple Sienese maiden as a 
kind of scourge of God, divinely ordained to punish the iniquities 
of the pastors of the Church. 

"To this most sanguinary and grasping of all the despots of 
Italy, Catherine expounds the law of Love, as shown in the 
mystery of the Redemption* She speaks of the vanity of all 
earthly lordship, which may pass away in a moment, in com- 
parison with the lordship of the city of the soul, in which God 
rests, and which, defended by free-will, is impregnable against 
all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil. But to 
preserve or regain this spiritual liberty, man must be washed in 
the blood of Christ ; this blood is kept in the body of Holy 
Church, to be administered by the hands of Christ's vicar ; and 
we cannot partake of it save through him. u I tell you, dearest 
father, and brother in Christ sweet Jesus, that God does not 
wish you, nor any one else, to make yourself the executioner 
of His ministers ; for He has reserved this to Himself and 



1 Cronira San at f coll. 238, 239. 

US 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

committed it to His vicar. And if the vicar does not do what 
he should (and it is bad if he does not), we must humbly await 
the punishment and chastisement of the Supreme Judge, God 
eternal, even if our possessions are taken from us by these men. 
I pray you, in the name of Christ crucified, concern your- 
self no more with this. Possess your own cities in peace ; 
punish your own subjects when they do wrong ; but never 
touch those who are the ministers of this glorious and precious 
blood, which you can have by no other hands than theirs* 
Without it you will not receive the fruit of that blood, but you 
will become a putrid limb, cut off from the body of Holy 
Church. Now no more, father ; humbly would I have us put 
our head upon the lap of Christ in heaven in affection and 
love, and of Christ on earth, who holds His place, to show 
reverence for the blood of Christ, of which blood he bears the 
keys ; to whom he opens, it is opened, and to whom he shuts, 
it is shut ; he has the power and the authority, and there is no 
one who can take it out of his hands ; because it has been given 
him by the first sweet Truth/ 1 

Let Bernabo, then, become a faithful son of the Church. 
" But what amends shall we make for the time that you have 
been outside ? For this, father, it seems to me that a time is 
preparing in which we shall be able to make sweet and gracious 
amends ; for, as you have disposed your body and temporal 
substance to every peril and death in war with your father, so 
[now I invite you, in the name of Christ crucified, to true and 
perfect peace with that father, benign Christ on earth, and to 
w ar upon the infide ls, preparing to give your body and substance 
for Christ crucified. Make yourself ready, for it befits you to 
make this sweet amends ; even as you have gone against him, 
so now go to his aid, when the Holy Father raises on high the 
banner of the most holy Cross. I wish you to be the first ^o 
invite and urge the Holy Father to make haste, for it is a great 
shame and disgrace to Christians to suffer wicked infidels to 
possess what by right is ours. But we act like fools and base 
of heart, who make war only upon each other ; we are divided 

116 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



against each other by hate and rancour, whereas we should be 
bound by the bond of divine and most ardent charity." l 

And to Beatrice, whose pride and avarice were notorious 
throughout Italy, she writes M with desire of seeing you clothed 
in the robe of most ardent charity, so and in such wise that you 
may be the means and instrument of reconciling your husband 
with Christ sweet Jesus and with His vicar, Christ on earth. I 
am certain that, if the virtue of charity is in you, it is impossible 
but that your husband will feel the warmth of it/' 2 From a 
letter addressed to Catherine by Elizabeth of Bavaria, the wife 
of Bernabo's son Marco (Petrarca's godson), we find that she 
had thoughts of coming in person to Milan, Elizabeth expresses 
her deep disappointment at hearing that the Satnt has changed 
her plans, and humbly commends her husband and little four- 
year-old daughter Anna to her prayers. 3 

With these first political letters, Catherine entered into the 
national life of her country. The lords of Italy and the prelates 
of the Church had learned by now that her words had a power 
not their own^nor was either party uriprepared_or unwilling io 
maky us e of if f pr their own ends and advantage . 

In the letters to the Cardinal of Bologna and his Milanese 
adversary alike, Catherine refers to the Crusade. From the 
beginning of his pontificate, Gregory had urged the powers of 
Christendom to make peace among themselves, and turn their 
arms against the Turks and Saracens. In particular, he had 
besought King Louis of Hungary, as the persecutor of infidels 
and defender of the Catholic Faith, to use the great power that 
the Lord had given him, " for the defence of His people whom 
He has redeemed by the shedding of His most precious blood, 

1 Letter 28 (191). In the bull of the Pope against Bcrnabo and Galeazzo, 
which is dated January 7, 1373 (Raynaldus, vii. pp. ^35-237), the former 
is accused of having tortured certain priests to death with appalling atrocity. 
The matter is evidently that to which Catherine refers, and the date of the 
papal bull, together with the authenticated presence of Bernabo's envoy in 
Siena, seems to fix this as the occasion of her letter. 

2 Letter 29 (319). 
Letter e i/ei ti'ueepoli d\ 5, Catering 2, 

117 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and so from a perishable earthly kingdom pass to an eternal 
one. 1 * l But, before anything could be effected, war broke out 
between Venice and Genoa, between the latter power and 
Cyprus ; Bernabo Visconti continued to keep all the forces of 
the Church engaged in Italy ; all the Pope's efforts to make 
peace between France and England proved in vain. 

Nevertheless, at the beginning of 1373, Gregory proclaimed 
the Crusade, By^Jta, as we saw, had from the outset raised the 
voice of prophecy agains t the scheme, as one that merely afforded 
at once an excuse to the Pope for neglecting his more immediate 
duty, and an opportunity to the mercenary soldiers for plundering 
and ravaging on a more extensive scale than was possible in 
Christendom. But Catherine, on the contrary, was fired with 
enthusiasm at the papal announcement* She saw in the proposed 
expedition at once the liberation of the sepulchre of Christ and 
the deliverance of Italy from these armed pests that, like the eagle 
upon Prometheus, were feeding upon her vitals ; visions passed 
before her eyes of crowds of martyrs offering up their blood for 
the redemption of the Holy Land, of men who had hitherto 
fought for Mammon putting on the sign of the Cross, expending 
their fierce strength and ardour in battling for the Faith. So 
when, a little later, the papal summons and invitation were 
repeated, and fresh briefs from Avignon arrived in Italy, her 
voice rang out, sicura, balda e litta, from the * City of the 
Virgin,*' as had Dante's of old from the ruddy sign of Mars, 

But already the cloud was gathering on the horizon that was 
to render t he Pope's design abortive and even Catherine's eloquent 
pleading of no avail. Early in the following year, 1374, the 
Pope recalled Cardinal d'Estaing, and appointed Guillaume de 
Noellet, known as the Cardinal of Sanf Angelo, to take his place 
as legate in Italy and papal governor of Bologna. The new 
legate entered Bologna on March 15: "He came through 
Tuscany, and, when he arrived at Florence, the Florentines 
showed him great honour ; but here we did not welcome him as 
we had done the others, because this novelty of changing cardinal 
1 Raynaldus, vii. pp, 101, 202, 223* 

us 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 



was too frequent. May God have sent us one who will be good 
for this city." l It was a most unfortunate choice. Cardinal de 
Noellet was a tyrannical and incompetent French prelate of the 
usual type furnished by Avignon ; he and his colleague, the 
Abbot at Perugia, were speedily to drive their Italian subjects to 
desperation. 

This was a dark and dismal year for all Italy, and especially 
for Catherine's native city : " In Siena/ 1 writes one of her 
chroniclers, at the opening of his records for this year, " there 
was pestilence, war, and very great scarcity, so that the bushel of 
grain was worth two golden florins/' 2 

In the spring, a fierce war on a small scale broke out in the 
contado. One of the Salimbeni, Andrea di Nicc olOyiiad seized 
Perolla, a castle of the Sienese Maremma near Massa, and hurled 
the daughter of its late lord, Geri (apparently himself a kinsman 
of the Salimbeni), to whom it rightfully belonged, down from the 
battlements. Secure in this stronghold, he gathered bandits and 
exiles round him, murdered and plundered all through the 
Maremma, levying blackmail up to the very gates of Siena, 
With aid from the Florentines (to whom in like manner they had 
rendered assistance in subduing the Ubaldini in the preceding 
year), the Sienese got together a large army, under their Senator 
(the Count Lodovico da Mogliano already mentioned), and, on 
April 23, forced the place to surrender. The Senator returned 
to Siena with twenty-nine prisoners, including Messer Andrea 
Salimbeni himself. Sixteen were executed, but the Senator, either 
by reasons of friendship or for fear of the Salimbeni, shrank from 
doing justice on the chief offender. Upon this the populace 
armed and assailed the Palace of the Signoria, de manding justice 
with threats of raising the whole city. The Defenders, intimi- 
dated, gave authority to the leader of the mob, one Noccio di 
Vanni, a saddler by trade, to do what seemed to him to the 
advantage of the Republic. Noccio at once led his followers to 



1 Cronka di Bologna, col. 495. 
* Annali di Siena dal 13 go al 1400. 
iv. 1., t 18. 



Bibliotcca Comunalc di Siena, MS. A. 



1 19 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



the palace of the Senator, who fled at their approach, and, breaking 
in, took his seat on the bench as judge, and condemned Andrea 
to instant execution. He was promptly beheaded ; but when, a 
month or so later, Noccio tried to repeat this process with one 
of Andrea's associates, the government interfered, and deprived 
him of the authority they had so strangely given* 

With some difficulty the tumults were thus appeased in the city. 
But, indignant at the affront offered to their house, the Salimbeni 
rose in arms in the contado. Niccolo di Niccold Salimbeni seized 
Montemassi, Clone di Sandro Salimbeni harried the district of 
Montepulciano, Agnolino di Giovanni Salimbeni, the virtual head 
of the house, ravaged the hills and valleys about Montalcino ; 
while others of the family with their adherents made war else- 
where in the contado, and defied the forces of the Republic. 
From Perugia, the Abbot of Maraioutier sent agents to both 
parties, offering to mediate, but was suspected (with good reason) 
of having a secret understanding with the Salimbeni. A more 
genuine pacific offer from the Florentines was rejected by the 
latter, who would hear of no terms while their kinsman's blood 
was unavenged. Within Siena itself, the faction of the Dodicini 
was secretly favouring the rebels. The Signoria appointed a 
magistracy of ten to carry on the war, imprisoned twenty-five 
of the Dodicini, extorted a heavy sum of money from them in 
fines, and sent for aid, which was promptly granted in horse and 
foot, to Florence and to Lucca. 

It was at this time that Catherine firs t left the territory of her 
native city. Moved by the conflicting reports that had reached his 
ears, the General of the order, Fra EJias of Toulouse, summoned 
her to attend the chapter-general which met at Florence in May. 
u There ca me to Flore nce," writes an anonymous Florentine 
contemporary, a in the month of May, 1374, when the chapter 
of the Friars Preachers was held, at the command of the Master 
of the order, one wearing the habit of the sisters of penance of 
St. Dominic, who was called Caterina di Jacomo di Benincasa of 
Siena, who was of the age of twenty-seven years, and whom we 
deemed to be a great servant of God. And with her she had 

120 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

three other women, dressed in her habit, who went in her company. 
Hearing her fame, I managed to see her and to gain her friend- 
ship, in such wise that she ofttimes came here into my house/' l 
We have no clue to the identity of the writer, nor any record 
elsewhere of this first visit of Catherine to the great city with 
whose political turmoils she was soon to be associated. Probably 
on this occasion she made the acquaintance of various Florentine 
citizens, of all classes in the State, and more particularly of 
Messer Angelo Ricasoli, who had succeeded Cardinal Piero 
Corsini as bishop, and Niccolo Soderini, a wealthy and influential 
man, of a deeply religious mind, one of the * c popolani grassi M 
and a leading spirit in the Parte Guelfe. She left Florence on 
June 29, and returned to her mother's house at Siena, to find 
the pestilence raging and a partial recurrence of the horrors of 
1348 within the city. 

This frightful scourge had appeared in May, and it ravaged 
Tuscany all through the summer until September, spreading 
thence through northern and central Italy even across the Alps. 
While attacking all ages and classes, the mortality was particularly 
terrible among the children. And the black shadow of famine 
dogged its footsteps. There was fearful scarcity of everything — 
bread, wine, meat, and oil were at unheard-of prices. In the 
great Tuscan cities, the government collected all the materials 
that could be made into bread, and doled it out by ticket ; but, 
even so, there was not enough to go round. At Siena, the 
Spedale di S. Maria della Scala acted up to its great traditions and 
devoted all its resources to succouring the poor ; and it was 
heroically supported by the Casa della Misericordia and the 
Disci plinati of Our Lady* The death-carts went from street to 
street, gathering up the dead ; the priests, who tended the dying 
and buried the victims, in many cases shared their fate. The 
pestilence was already at Florence when Catherine was there, and 

1 MtracoH e transitu di Santa Caterina, Bibliotcca Riccardiana, MS, 1267, f. 
190. ThU little work was printed by Grot tan ell i in 1862, under the title Akuni 
ntiracofi di Santa Catcrina da Sima, seconds chc sono narrati da un Anmimo^ $uo ce*~ 
ttmporantQ* CC Augusta Dranc, L pp. 216-218. 

121 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

lasted from March to October ; but the devastation was on a 
less dreadful scale than among the Sienese ; out of a population 
of 60,000, some 7,000 Florentines perished, and, although we have 
not the exact figures, the mortality in Siena was evidently much 
greater, 1 

Two of Catherine's brothers, Bartolommeo, who had ac- 
companied her back from Florence, and^tefa^who had gone to 
Rome, her sister Lisa, and eighty of her nephews and nieces, 
Lapa's grandchildren, died. With her own hands Catherine 
prepared the bodies for burial, saying over each : "This one, at 
least, I shall not lose." With her companions, she passed through 
the streets ot the city, seeking out the most infected districts, 
entering the houses and the hospitals, tending the stricken, 
comforting and converting the dying, laying out the dead — many 
of whom she is said to have buried with her own hands. Not a 
few — including the hermit, Fra Santi, and the devoted rector of 
the Casa della Misericordia, Messcr Matteo Cenni — gained such 
strength from her ministrations that they rose up healed at her 
word, and followed her to render service to the others. 

Foremost among her fellow-labourers was the noble and holy 
Dominican friar who now became her spiritual director, and 
afterwards her biographer : Fra Raimondo delle Vigne of Capua ; 
he whom, in her last letter, she was to call K father and son given 
me by that sweet Mother Mary," A man of aristocratic birth 
and great learning (among whose ancestors was that ill-fated Piero 
delle Vigne, the chancellor of the Emperor Frederick II, whose 
fame Dante had so nobly vindicated in a famous canto of the 
lnferm\ Raimondo had in some mysterious way — to which he 
vaguely refers as miraculous — been called in his youth to the 
Dominican order, and had rapidly become a personage of im- 
portance among the friars. He had been prior of the Minerva 
at Rome in 1367, and shortly after (it being the practice of the 

1 Marchionnc di Coppo Stefani, htoria Fiorentina, Lib. IX, rubr. 745, who 
gives the Florentine mortality, says that Florence suffered less in proportion to its 
inhabitants than any other town in Tuscany, and that elsewhere a third of the 
population died. 

122 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

order, with a view to avoiding all possibility of heresy or scandal, 
to appoint only friars of established fame and doctrine to such 
offices) had been made director of the convent of Dominican nuns 
of Santa Agnese at Montepulciano, where he had spent two years, 
and where, at the request of the nuns, he had written the life of 
their blessed patroness which still appears in the ^icta Sanctorum 
for her feast. Thence he had been sent to San Domenico at Siena, 
as lector or professor of theology, and there (though he did not 
for some time see anything miraculous in her, nor put much 
credit in her revelations) he had at once espoused Catherine's 
cause, and insisted that she should on no account be hindered 
from communicating as often as she pleased. 1 To him she found 
she could open her heart as to no other man, and, with the cordial 
and humble assent of Fra Tommaso, he now took his place as her 
chief confessor and spiritual director. 

** Considering/ 1 as he writes, " that Christ is far more powerful 
than Galen, and grace than nature/' Raimondo led a devoted band 
of friars into the thickest fury of the pestilence, to lay down their 
lives for their people if such was God's will. Day and night, he 
was to be seen in the hospitals, or visiting the stricken in infected 
houses, bearing the Blessed Sacrament, hearing their last con- 
fessions, performing the rites for the dead. Both he and Fra 
Bartolornmeo were among those who took the infection, and 
believed that Catherine's miraculous intervention had raised them 
up from the bed of death. But all the three Dominican sons of 
her companion, Cecca Gori, died. 

Many others, priests and religious^ had deserted the city, like 
those of the laity who could find a safer refuge. Fra Filippo 
tells a striking story of one of these latter, a man he knew, a great 
usurer and oppressor of the poor, who, at the first approach of 



1 Legtnda* II. xii. 8 (§ 314). It was apparently on the feast of St. John the 
Baptist, when he acted as deacon at High Mass in San Domenico at Siena, that 
Catherine first saw Raimondo. Cf. Augusta Drane, L p. 224, and Tantucci, 
p. 122. This must have been in the preceding year, if the author of the 
Miracofi is right in his statement that, in 1374, Catherine was at Florence till 
June 29. 

123 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

the pestilence, converted all he had into ready money and fled to 
Massa, where he waited until he heard that it had abated, Then 
he returned to the city, and, drinking and laughing with his friends, 
began to boast that he had jockeyed God. u And, raising his 
eyes on high, he cried out at the top of his voice : Thou thoughtest 
to catch m€) Domenedio, but Thou hast not got me I But no sooner 
had he said this word, than he said another in a lower tone : Woes 
me, Thou hast indeed got me % for I feel the swelling'' And 
straightway he went to his house and died. 1 

A fresh recruit to Catherine's mystical army at this time was a 
young novice of San Domenico, Fra Simone da Cortona. From 
his own account of himself, he was a melancholy and sensitive 
youth, tormented by shyness, self-consciousness, and religious 
scruples. While the other younger friars of the convent, for fear 
of infection, shrank from associating with the fathers, Rainiondo, 
Tommaso Caffarini, and Bartolommeo, who visited the sick, 
Simone eagerly sought their company and joined them in their 
work; and they, " as though to reward me for my labour," 
brought him to Catherine, u which to my taste was, indeed, a 
magnificent reward." u O how gladly did I see her, and how 
eagerly did I listen to her burning words ! Verily, for her sake, 
all labour was turned for me into rest." But once, when they 
were visiting her, the other friars forgot all about him, and left 
htm outside ; Catherine called for him, and he, abashed and 
mortified, would not go in. Afterwards, when they had left, 
Catherine said to her companions : 4 * My son has gone away 
troubled, because he could not speak with me, but I will go to 
him this very night." He went to bed, very angry and 
miserable ; but she appeared to him in a dream, and gave him 
sweet comfort. Afterwards, when he accompanied Fra Bar- 
tolommeo, who was preaching a mission at Asciano, Catherine, 
fearing that the youth might again think himself neglected, 
always remembered him in the postscripts to the letters she 
addressed to the elder friar, and excused herself for not having 
had time to write directly to him. u Tell Frate Simone, my son 
1 Assempro 57, Come itn uomo diceva eke Bh non Favcva gionlo. 
124 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

in Jesus Christ, that the son is never afraid to go to his mother ; 
nay, he runs to her, especially when he thinks himself hardly 
used ; and his mother takes him in her arms, and clasps him to 
her breast, and comforts him. And, although I am a bad mother, 
nevertheless I will always bear him at the breast of charity." 1 

Worn out by her labours, Catherine herself fell dangerously ill 
on the feast of the Assumption of this year, 1374, and with all joy 
prayed for death, until restored by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, 
who showed her all the souls whom, if her life were prolonged, 
she would yet guide to eternal life* 2 It having been, as she 
believed, revealed to her that she would ultimately be the special 
companion in paradise of Agnese of Montepulciano, she felt a 
keen desire to visit her shrine in that town. Thither she now 
went, on her recovery, followed by Fra Raimondo and another 
of her confessors ; and Girolamo del Pacchia's masterpiece still 
preserves the legend of how, as Catherine bent down over 
Agnese's incorrupt body to kiss her feet, one of them raised 
itself to meet her lips. The painter has united this with a similar 
episode which is said to have occurred a little later, when Catherine 
came again to Montepulciano, accompanied by her sister-in-law 
Lisa (who had returned to Siena'after her husband's death and taken 
the habit of the Mantellate), to place the latter's two daughters 
in the convent ; while she laid her face to the silk covering 
that was over the dead face of Agnese, "Lisa and the others, 
lifting up their eyes, saw a very white and very minute manna, 
that, like rain, descended from on high in such great abundance 
that it covered the body of Agnese, and the virgin Catherine, as 
also all the others who were present, in such wise that Lisa filled 
her hands with those little grains/* 8 

It was during their first stay at Montepulciano that Fra 
Raimondo's last doubts were dispelled concerning the divine origin 

1 Conttstatto Fr. Smmu, MS. cif. f pp. 511-516; Letter 105 {113). Cf. 
Dante, Par. xxii. 1-9. 

* So the author of the MlracolU quoted by Augusta Drane, I, p. 237. 

* Legenda t II. xiL 17-19 (§§ 327, 328). Cf. Raimondo, Vita S. AgnetU Je 
Matt Politiano {Acta Sanctorum^ Aprllis torn. u.),pp. 793, 794. 

125 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

of Catherine's works and revelations, which, tiU then, had been 
keeping his mind in suspense : C( for I remembered that it was 
now the time of that third beast with the leopard's skin, by which 
is signified hypocrisy, and in my days I had met with hypocrites, 
especially among women, who are more easily and readily seduced 
by the Enemy, as is shown in the case of our first Mother/* At 
her intercession, he obtained a mental vision of his own sins so 
clear, and a contrition so overwhelming, that he was convinced 
could proceed from nothing save from the grace of the Holy 
Spirit. A lttde later, when he doubted again of the truth of 
what she was revealing to him, he saw her face transformed into 
the face of Christ, and experienced a wonderful illumination of 
mind concerning the matter of which she spoke. 1 Nevertheless, 
the good father, who, like Dante, " seco avea di quel d'Adamo," 
was still unable always to follow her etherial flights, and he con- 
fesses it with some little humour. On one occasion, when she 
was discoursing at great length upon the divine mysteries, he fell 
asleep : " But she, who, while she thus spoke, was all absorbed in 
God, went on with her discourse for a long time before she 
perceived that I was asleep. At last she noticed it, and then 
woke me up by saying with a loud voice : * Ah, why do you 
lose your soul's profit by sleeping ? Am I talking about God to 
a wall or to you ?* M 

Montepulciano lay close to the fiefs of the rebellious Salimbeni, 
but it seems more probable that Catherine's relations with that 
family belong to a later epoch in her life. Nor do I think that 
her mediation in the local feuds and dissensions should be assigned 
to this date. She appears to have been ill with fever during most 
of this visit to the monastery of Santa Agnese, and, as soon as 
was possible, she probably returned to Siena. 

In spite of the pestilence, the war between the Republic and 
the Salimbeni had continued. In October, the latter, in a sudden 
sally from their beleaguered fortress of Boccheggiano, completely 
defeated the Sienese forces, although outnumbered by nearly three 

1 Le&ntkt I. ix. 6, 7 (§§ 87-91), Cf. Par. xxvil 105, where Dante says 
of Beatrice : ** chc Dio parca nel auo volto gioirc." 

126 



FROM THE CELL TO THE WORLD 

to one, capturing their captain and all their munitions of war. 
The government retaliated by expelling all members of the family 
from Siena, proclaimed them rebels, and ordered their palaces and 
houses to be dismantled. But in the following March, 1375, the 
Florentines intervened, and sent Buonaccorso di Lapo Giovanni, 
Leonardo Strozzi, and Carlo Strozzi as ambassadors to bring 
about peace. The three came first to Siena and then went on to 
confer with the Saltmbeni in Val d 1 Or eta. At the end of April, it 
was proclaimed to the sound of trumpets throughout Siena and in 
the lands of the Salimbeni that the whole matter had been referred 
to the decision of the Priors of the Commune of Florence. 

The representatives of both parties were at Florence, engaged 
in the final negotiations, when news reached Tuscany of a more 
momentous peace having been made in northern Italy. On June 
7, a courier rode into Pisa bearing an olive branch from Cardinal 
de Noellet, with the tidings that he had concluded at Bologna a 
truce for a year between the Holy See and Bernabo Visconti. 
Four days later, the symbolical olive and the official announcement 
of the truce was brought to Siena. In both cities the news was 
received with sorrow and apprehension ; men doubted the inten- 
tions and the good faith of the papal legate ; sinister rumours 
were spreading as to the movements of Hawkwood's mercenaries, 
whom the Church had dismissed from her service and who were 
approaching the Tuscan frontiers. 1( From this truce/' writes 
the chronicler of Pisa, u there resulted such great evil that war 
followed through almost all the world. 11 



127 



CHAPTER VII 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 



0*?< 






"Then in her sacred savin? hands 
She took the sorrows of the lands. 
With maiden palms she lifted up 
The sick time's blood -embittered cup, 
And in. her virgin garment furled 
The faint limbs of a wounded world. 
Clothed with calm love and clear desire, 
She went forth in her soul's attire, 
A missive fire." 

A. C. Swinburne, Song* btfort Sunrut. 

Catherine was by this time no longer at Siena. Other 
cities in Tuscany were now claiming her spiritual ministrations, 
and her great political work had fairly begun. 

It was probably in the latter part of 1374 that Birgitta's 
confessor, the hermit-bishop, A lfonso daVadaterra, returned to 
Italy from Avignon, He came to Siena, and sought an interview 
with Catherine in the name of the Pope, from whom he brought 
her the apostolic benediction, to enlist her ever-increasing spiritual 
influence for the papal intentions* tc The Pope/' writes Catherine 
to Fra Bartolommeo and Fra Tomrnaso Caffarini, who were then 
at Pisa, * c has sent here one of his vicars — the spiritual father of 
that Countess who died at Rome. It is he who renounced the 
bishopric for love of virtue, and he came to me in the name of 
the Holy Father, bidding me offer up special prayers for him 
and for Holy Church ; and for a sign he brought me the holy 
indulgence. Rejoice then and be glad, for the Holy Father has 
begun to attend to the honour of God and of Holy Church, I 
have written a letter to the Holy Father, beseeching him, for the 
love of that most sweet blood, to give us leave to expose our 
bodies to every torment. Pray to the supreme eternal Truth that, 
if it is best, He may vouchsafe this mercy to us and to you, so 
that we may all together give our lives for Him." ' To Alfonso 

1 Letter 127 {117). Cf, Cristofano di Gano, Memorie, p, 34. This letter 
about the Crusade, which was apparently Catherine's first to Gregory XI, has not 
come down to us. 

128 




UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

it must have seemed that the spirit of his dead friend lived again 
in the Sienese maiden, and he now associated himself with her 
spiritual fellowship. 

The two friars had spread Catherine's fame through Pisa, and 
she received repeated invitations to come thither, especially from 
certain nuns who greatly desired to see and to hear her, and who 
assured her that she could win many souls to God in that city- 
invitations that had been supported by a letter from no less a 
person than Piero Gambacorti, the ruler of the Pisan Republic, 
himself* Her answer to the latter, admonishing the upright man 
who was holding earthly lordship by so doubtful and unstable a 
title, to detach himself from the delights of the world and keep 
his eyes fixed upon Divine Justice in governing, is extant ; at the 
end she excuses herself from coming, on the grounds of her bad 
health and the risk of causing scandal — relations being then 
somewhat strained between Messer Piero and the Sienese, in 
consequence of the refusal of the Pisan s to help their nominal 
allies against the rebellious Salimbeni, whereas Florence and Lucca 
had loyally corresponded to their bond. 1 

Nevertheless, early in the new year, 1375, Catherine believed! 
herself to have received a divine command to delay no longer, 
and accordingly set out for Pisa, With her went Alessa, Lisa, 
Cecca, and others of her women, as also her mother, Monna 
Lapa herself, who would not again be parted from her daughter. 
Fra Raimondoj Fra Tommaso della Fonte, and Fra Bartolommeo 
accompanied her, to hear the confessions of those whom she was 
to convert to God, 

At Pisa the little band of Sienese received a royal reception, 
being met by Piero Gambacorti himself, the Archbishop (Francesco 
Moricotti di Vico), and the chief religious and political notabilities 
of the State. Catherine was entertained and lodged in the house 
of Gherardo Buonconti, a leading citizen of Pisa, and one of 
a large family of brothers and sisters, several of whom became 
her disciples. The house stood on the Arno, near the little 

1 Letter 112 (193). Cf. Legcndd) II. viii. 17 (§257), and Crmka Santu, 
col. 240. 

9 «9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

church or chapel of Santa Cristina. Here the same wonders 
were enacted as had been done at Siena : the sick were healed ; 
men of evil life were brought to repentance. M I saw her speak 
to certain sinners," wrote Giovanni Dominici, the famous Cardinal 
of Ragusa, then a young Dominican novice, to his mother, "and 
her words were so profound, so fiery and potent, that they 
straightway transformed these vessels of contumely into pure 
vessels of crystal, as we sing in the hymn of St. Mary Magdalene 
that our Lord Jesus did to her.** 1 A new breath of spiritual 
life seemed given to that decaying city, whose days of political 
independence were drawing to a close. 

There were, as usual, some that murmured, and others that 
professed themselves scandalized at Catherine's mode of life and 
at the reverence with which she was treated, especially at the way 
in which many of the men and women who approached her knelt 
and kissed her hands. Two learned men of the city, Maestro 
Giovanni Gutalebraccia, a physician, and Ser Pietro di Messer 
AJbizzo, a lawyer of repute who was a leading spirit among the 
adherents of the Gambacorti, came to her, much as Fra Lazzarino 
and Maestro Gabriele had done in Siena, and attempted to 
bewilder her with theological problems. To all their questions 
she answered simply, that only one thing was necessary : to know 
that Christ, the true Son of God, had assumed human nature for 
our salvation, had suffered and died for our liberation ; and she 
spoke to them so sweetly of the love of Him that they were 
moved to tears. But the hostile comments on the reverence shown 
her increased, until Fra Raimondo (Fra Bartolommeo being also 
present) hinted that she should stop it, asking her if it did not 
move her mind to vainglory. u I hardly notice what they do," 
she replied, u and, through God's grace, it does not please me ; 
I consider only the good affection that brings them to me, and 
thank the Divine Goodness that thus moves them, praying that 
He may perfect and fulfil those desires which He has inspired. 

1 This letter, written from Constance in 1416, is included in Biscioni, 
Lcttere di San ft e Bead Fioreniini, and there is a Latin version of it appended to 
the Processus. 

130 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 



I marvel how a creature, knowing itself to be a creature, can have 
vainglory.*' x 

But there was one, whom Bartolommeo styles " a certain man 
of no small reputation among spiritual persons/' who, in all 
sincerity, trembled for the safety of Catherine's soul. This was 
the poet of the Gesuati, Bianco dalf Anciolina, known as "El 
Bianco da Siena/* but sometimes called " El Bianco da Firenze," 
or " El Bianco da Citta di Castello," from the place where he had 
lived as an anchorite after the death of his master, Giovanni 
Colombini. u Now beware, Catherine, my sister," he sang, 
"lest thou fall in great ruin ; if thou hast the divine grace, take 
heed to preserve it. Beware lest, through thy great fame, thou 
becomest hungry for it. If thou art indeed the bride of Christ, 
thou canst verily deem thyself blessed ; but if such praise pleases 
thee, 1 fear lest the demon rejoice ; beware lest thou be caught 
in his snares* Many have been the saints to whom men have 
flocked, who, lest they should be wounded by pride, have fled to 
the cell. I hear that thou claim est that the Holy Spirit is guiding 
thee ; if it is true, I thank God who has so exalted thee. Beware, 
beware, beware, lest thou become a liar or cowardly through 
vanity. Beware lest the temptation of prophetical speech enthrall 
thee. Lay aside the fantasies of vain prophecy ; if thou goest by 
their ways, thou wilt find thyself ensnared. Thou art proclaimed 
to be of holy life ; thou art already called a saint. If the Holy 
Spirit is leading thee, seek not earthly praise, which undoes the 
soul that desires it. Shouldst thou fall, many will lose their 
faith ; beware, poor woman, lest thou be overthrown. May the 
lovingdivine light so guard thee along its way that thy soul may 
&ke her stand upon the truth alone. 1 * 2 This poem, or lauda y El 
Bianco seems to have actually sent to Catherine at Pisa, together 
with a long letter, blaming her severely for allowing such honours 
to be paid her, generally censuring her mode of life as dangerous 

1 Contestatio Fr. Barthokmaci, Processus, coll. 1352, 1353- 

2 Poem in 32 stanzas, headed "Qucsta scgucntc lauda man-do cl Bianco alia 
Beata Catcrina da Siena " (No. 72 in the printed collection of the Laudi spirituals 
del Biamo da Siena). 

131 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and objectionable, urging her to shun publicity and to seek 
solitude, since the latter was the way of the Saints, while hers was 
that of hypocrites and seekers of their own praises. Raimondo 
and Bartolomnieo attempted to keep the letter from Catherine, 
intending to send a sharp answer on their own account ; but she 
insisted upon hearing it, professed the warmest gratitude to the 
writer for his solicitude for the welfare of her soul, and rebuked 
the two friars for their uncharitable interpretation of his good 
intentions. Her own answer is extant; written, she tells him, 
11 with the desire of seeing us united and transformed in that 
sweet, eternal, and pure Truth, which takes from us all falsehood 
and lying" : — 

u I thank you cordially, dearest father, for the holy zeal and 
anxiety that you have for my soul. You seem to be in great 
doubt at what you hear about my life. I am certain that nothing 
moves you save desire of the honour of God and of my salvation, 
for you fear that I may be assailed and deluded by the devil I 
do not wonder, father, at your having this fear, especially in the 
matter of eating ; for I promise you that it is not only you 
who are afraid about it, but I myself tremble for fear of deception 
by the devil. But I put my trust in the goodness of God, and 
mistrust myself, knowing that upon myself I cannot rely. Not 
only in this, but in all I do, I always fear because of my own 
frailty, and because of the astuteness of the devil, thinking that 
I may be deceived ; for I know and see that the devil lost 
blessedness, but not wisdom, and with that wisdom, or rather 
astuteness, he could deceive me. But I turn, then, and cling to 
the tree of the most holy Cross of Christ crucified, and thereto I 
would be fastened ; and I doubt not that, if I be fastened and 
nailed to it with Him, through love and with deep humility, the 
devils will have no power against me, not because of my virtue, 
but by the virtue of Christ crucified. You bid me specially pray 
to God that I may eat. I tell you, my father, and I tell you in 
the sight of God, that I have always tried in every possible way, 
once or twice a day, to take food ; and I have prayed continually, 
and do pray to God, and will pray that He may give me grace in 

132 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

this matter to live like other creatures, if it is His will, for it is 
mine. I pray you to pray that supreme eternal Truth that* if it 
is more for His honour and the salvation of my soul, He may 
give me grace and enable me to take food, if it pleases Him. 
And I am certain that the goodness of God will not despise 
your prayers. I beseech you to write to me what remedy you 
see for it, and, if only it be to the honour of God, I will 
gladly adopt it. And I beseech you, too, not to be hasty in 
judging, unless you are quite sure that you see things as they 
are in God's sight/* 1 1 kA^' 

The desire that Catherine had expressed in this letter, that . 
she might " be fastened and nailed to the tree of the most holy 
Cross of Christ xrucified with Him, through love and with deep , 
humility, V, was now to be mystically fulfilled. The church of 
Santa Cristina stands on the Lung' Arno, not far from the little 
Gothic gem of Santa Maria della Spina, which she, who had 
chosen a crown of thorns for a crown of pearls, must have seen in 
all its fresh beauty. Although Santa Cristina in its present form 
is in the main a building of the nineteenth century, prosaic alike 
in its surroundings and its interior, there stands still, by the first 
altar to the right of the entrance, a fragment of one of the 
pillars of the older church, with the inscription : Signavit 
Dominus servant suam Catharinam hie signh redemprionis nostrae : 
" Here the Lord signed His servant Catherine with the signs of 
our redemption.' 1 For here, on the fourth Sunday of Lent, 
1375, the Sunday known as Laeiare Sunday from the text of 
Isaiah sung as Introit {** Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad 
with her, all ye that love her "), while rapt in ecstasy after 
Communion, Catherine of Siena in a measure received the same 



1 Letter 92 {305), which is one of those included in the Harleian MS. 
C£ Qtmttstatio Ft. Bartholomaei t lot. cit. t co!L 1354, 1355 (t 142 in the Sienese 
MS.). The poem, or lattda, previously quoted, which has hitherto curiously 
escaped the notice of all the biographers of St. Catherine, leaves no doubt as to 
the identity of the person who wrote to her. For the life of El Bianco at Citta 
di Castello, see the Vita dakuni strvt di Giesu Crista appended to Bckari's Vita del 
B. Giovanni Cohmbini. 

»33 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

mystical revelation which had been stamped in all the fulness of 
its seal upon the members of Francis of Assisi one hundred and 
fifty years before. Fra Raimondo and the others saw her 
gradually rise up from her prostrate position to her knees, with 
face all glowing, stretch out her arms, and then, after remaining 
a while steadfast in this attitude, fall suddenly to the ground 
as though mortally wounded. IC I saw," she said, tc the crucified 
Lord coming down to me in a great light, and for this, by the 
impetus of the mind that would fain go forth to meet its Creator, 
the body was constrained to rise. Then from the marks of His 
most sacred wounds I saw five blood-red rays coming down 
upon me, which were directed towards the hands and feet and 
heart of my body, Wherefore, perceiving the mystery, I 
straightway exclaimed : Ah y Lord my God^ I beseech Thee, let not 
the marks appear outwardly on my body. Then, whilst I was yet 
speaking, before the rays reached me, they changed their blood- 
red colour to splendour, and in the semblance of pure light they 
came to the five places of my body, that is, to the hands, the feet, 
and the heart. So great is the pain that I endure sensibly in all those 
five places, but especially within my heart, that, unless the Lord 
works a new miracle, it seems not possible to me that the life of 
my body can stay with such agony, and that it will not end in a 
few days.*' 

They brought her back to her room, in what appeared a dying 
condition. But it seemed that, in answer to the united prayers 
of all the fellowship, this new miracle was wrought, and when, on 
the following Sunday, she received the Blessed Sacrament again 
from Raimondo's hands, her strength was, as it were, supernatural ly 
renewed* ** O Father of ineffable mercy," writes the good friar, 
"what wilt Thou do for Thy faithful servants and for Thy 
beloved children, when Thou dost show Thyself so benign to 
such afflicted sinners as us ? I said to her : * Mother, does the 
pain still last of the wounds which were made in thy body ? ' And 
she answered ; ' The Lord has heard your prayers, albeit to the 
affliction of my soul, and those wounds not only do not afflict 
my body, but even fortify it ; so that, instead of receiving 

*34 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

torment from them, albeit I feel them still, they bring me 
strength.' M 1 

While staying at Pisa, Catherine for the first time saw the sea. 
On the island of Gorgona, some twenty miles from Livorno, 
there stood a Carthusian monastery, of which a certain Don 
B artolommeo Serafini of Ravenna was then prior : a man of holy 
life and spiritual conversation, who believed profoundly in 
Catherine's mission, and was eager for the monks under his 
charge to hear her words. At his repeated instance, supported 
by Fra Raimondo, Catherine visited the island, with a number of 
her companions and friends from Pisa. They arrived at evening, 
and, while Raimondo and the others were entertained at the 
convent, the prior found rooms for Catherine and her women 
without. The next day, at the earnest prayer of the monks, 
Catherine spoke to them of the temptations of the monastic life 
and of its trials, in such a profound and illuminating fashion that 
all were amazed, and the prior, turning to Raimondo, declared 
that, if she had heard the confession of each (as he had done), she 
could not more appositely have healed the soul of every one, 
Bartolommeo himself bears witness to the great spiritual fruit 
that she wrought among them. He tells us how she left the 
island in the convent boat, and how, when they had reached the 
Pisan shore, the monks asked her blessing before rowing back, 
and believed that, through her intercession, they were miraculously 
delivered from a sudden storm that rose. He speaks, too, of 
her parting warning to him concerning a scandal which the devil 
would shortly try to cause in his flock, which was soon verified 
in the attempted suicide of a young monk, who was only liberated 
from temptation by the touch of the mantle that Catherine had 
left behind her, and by calling on her name. 2 

The simplicity with which Don Bartolommeo in his old age 
tells these stories is a revelation of the character of the man, and 

1 Legenda, II. vi. 10, n (§§ 194-198). Cf, Lombardelli, Sommario dell* 
disputa a dlfesa delle Sacre Stimate di Santa Caterina, p. 1 3. 

* Legend** II. x. 20 (§ 296) ; Contestatio Dom. Barthahmaet de Ravenna, 
Processus* coll. 1304-1307. 

*35 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



it is evident that Catherine was as delighted and edified by him as 
he had been impressed by her. "God is calling you by holy 
and good inspirations,' 1 she wrote to Ippolito degli Ubaldini, a 
Florentine noble who sought her advice about entering religion, 
u and He has prepared a holy and devout place for you, utterly 
cut off from the world, with a father, the Prior of Gorgona, who 
is veritably an angel, a mirror of virtue, with a good and holy 
family* Tell him your intention fully, and make a steady, firm, 
and true resolution. And if you decide to enter that holy and 
devout place (which will be the life of your soul), or whatever you 
determine, if you dispense your substance to the poor, give some 
of it to that place of Gorgona. For the convent needs to be put 
into shape, if it is to conform to the rule of the Carthusian 
order." 1 Two of the most beautiful of her spiritual letters are 
addressed to one of the monks of this convent, Francesco Tebaldi 
of Florence, who is apparently the same young man who had 
been so sorely tempted to take his own life. " We have all had 
a great desire to hear news of you/' she says at the end of the 
first ; **it seems to me that the demon has not slept, and is not 
sleeping with regard to you ; at which I am very glad, because I 
see that, by the goodness of God, the battle has not been to 
death, but to life, Thanks, thanks, to the sweet God eternal, 
who has given us so much grace ! Now you will begin to know 
that you are nothing, and to realize that your being, and all grace 
that is founded upon your being, comes from Him who is. To 
Him let all thanks and praise be rendered ; for it is His will that 
we give the flower to Him and that the fruit be our own/' 2 

A man of a more virile type than the gentle Prior of 
Gorgona, who is said to have first met Catherine at this time, and 
afterwards came under her influence, was the Florentine hermit of 
Vallombrosa, Don Giovanni dalle Celle, whose name runs through 
so much of the religious life of the Trecento. His spiritual 

1 Letter 130 (271), The convent of Gorgona was a Benedictine house that 
had recently been made over to the Carthusians, and would, therefore, need 
the building of separate cells for the monks. 

2 Letters 150 (62), 154 (63), 

136 




UNDER A DARKENING SKY 



letters, s till only in part collected, e xtend from the forties to the 
nineties ^of the century. Giovanni had become a monk of the 
Vallombrosan rule at an early age, and, while superior of S. 
Trinita in Florence, had committed a peculiarly scandalous and 
infamous crime, for which (after release from imprisonment) he 
did penance all the rest of his long life* In his earliest extant 
letter, he beseeches the saintly Augustinian hermit, Fra Simone 
da Cascia, as a most experienced physician of souls, to heal u the 
execrable wound of my mind M : ** I was what I am not ; I used 
to do penance ; but now, by looking back, I have become a 
statue of salt. I used to taste what now, in my wretchedness, I 
hardly remember. I have fallen, and cannot rise of myself; I 
strive to return to the man I was, but dare not, for my mind is 
overwhelmed by remorse and confounded by the shame of my sins. 
Receive me, then, crying to thee from the abyss, and begin to 
build up in me what I have destroyed. n l After this he took the 
name of Giovanni dalle Celle, "John of the Cells," from the 
solitude above Vallombrosa to which he retired, but fro-, which 
he issued at intervals to labour in Florence and elsewhere for the 
good of souls. Men and women alike appealed to him for 
direction ; but his special work of this kind seems to have been 
the guidance of a confraternity of young men, known as his 
adopted sons, whom he trained in the religious life ; at the same 
time, through his friend Guido dal Palagio (a man of devout life 
and great charity, known to students of Italian literature by a noble 
patriotic canzone, and dear to lovers of the beautiful for the 
Franciscan convent above Fiesole which he founded), he kept in 
touch with the government of the Republic, 

It has frequently been stated that Catherine had come to Pisa 
by the express wish of the Pope, to carry out certain negotiations 

1 This letter, with Fra Simone's answer, is given by P. Nicola Mattioli, // 
Beate Simone Fidati da Cascia (Rome, 1898), pp. 392-410, and must have been 
written before 1 348, the year of Simone's death. Giovanni's crime, as described 
by Girolamo of Vallombrosa, in B. Sorio, Letter* del B. Giovanni dalle Celle f p, 7, 
curiously illustrates Catherine's words about the wicked practices of certain monks, 
in her Dialogo, cap* 1 29. 

137 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 




on his behalf, with the object of preventing the Republic from 
joining the league that was being formed against the Holy See. 
There is no warrant for this in Raimondo's narrative, and it 
seems chronologically an anticipation of what was to take place 
some months later. If Catherine had any more definite mission 
than that of her Divine Spouse for the conversion of souls, it 
could only have been in connection with the propos ed Crusade ; 
she was apparently to use Pisa as a headquarters from which to 
stir up enthusiasm among high and low in Italy, alike by letter 
and by spoken word, for u the holy passage. 1 * 

The Pope was trying gradually to feel his way in this matter, 
which he probably had sincerely at heart. Among the numerous 
bulls despatched from Avignon was one addressed to the 
provincial of the Dominicans in Tuscany, the minister of the 
Friars Minor, and to Fra Raimondo, empowering them to 
investigate the will and disposition of the faithful, to enroll those 
who were ready to give their lives in the great undertaking, and 
to report to the Pope thereon, so that he might know upon what 
support he could rely from Italy when the banner of the Cross 
should actually be raised. There had been some immediate 
response from individuals, three of the Buoticonti, for instance, 
having enrolled themselves ; but it was imperative to secure the 
adhesion of the heads of the maritime States of the Mediterranean : 
Naples, Genoa, Pisa, and Sardinia ; especially as the practical 
intervention of Venice in the enterprise seemed doubtful, and 
Louis of Hungary, in spite of his alleged pledges to the contrary, 
showed small disposition to move his powers in defence of the 
threatened Greeks and their Emperor, notwithstanding an urgent 
brief from Gregory inciting him to act with vigour. 1 A little 
later, these exhortations were renewed, and a friar of great 
eloquence, one of the few immediate links between Petrarca's 
circle of correspondents and that of Catherine, Fra Bonaventura 
Badoara of Padua, an Augustinian hermit, was sent to inflame the 

1 Brief of January 28, 1375. Raynaldus, vii, p. 263, The Pope was 
flattering himself that the Greeks were prepared to submit to the Roman obedience 
in return for armed Hungarian protection. 

138 







UNDER A DARKENING SKY 



King's lagging zeal. 1 But the official invitations of the Pope and 
the eloquent exhortations of his Augustinian emissary seem frigid 
and perfunctory, when compared with the fi ery-hearted, enthusiasm, 
the white and gl owing passion, with which Catherine threw herself 
into the undertaking. 

From the house of the Buonconti, she despatched letters and 
messengers in all directions, to princes and rulers of republics, to 
captains of mercenaries and to private citizens alike, urging each 
in his own degree to support the papal design, and to be ready to 
lay down his life for the Cross when the summons should come. 
One of the first to whom she appealed was Queen Giovanna of 
Naples, whose ambiguous character and dangerous position stirred 
her imagination and excited her compassion. In words of 
touching tenderness, the maiden of the people implores the 
daughter of kings, who had won from men the title of regina 
mtretriXy to repent and amend her life, thereby becoming u a true 
and perfect daughter of God," to contemplate the ineffable love 
that God bears her, and plant the tree of the Cross in the garden of 
her soul. " Rise up, then, manfully, sweetest sister ! It is no 
longer time for sleep, for time sleeps notj but ever passes like the 
wind. For love's sake, lift up the standard of the most holy 
Cross in your heart, Soon must we uplift it, for, as I understand, 
the Holy Father will proclaim the war against the Turks. And, 
therefore, I pray you to make ready, so that we may all go 
together to die for Christ. I beseech and urge you, in the name 
of Christ crucified, to support His Spouse in her need, with your 
possessions, your person, and your counsel ; in all that is possible, 
show yourself a faithful daughter of sweet and holy Church/* 2 
And to Bartolommeo di Smeduccio, the tyrant of San Severino in 
the Marches, a young condottJere whose growing reputation as a 
soldier was giving him a power and importance far beyond that 
derived from the forces actually at his disposal, she wrote : u Let 
your heart and soul be enkindled in Christ sweet Jesus, with love 
and desire of paying Him back for so much love by giving life 

1 Brief of October 27, 1375. Ibld^ p. 264. 

2 Letters 133 (312) and 138 (314), 

139 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



for life. He has given His life for you, and do you give your 
life for Him, blood for blood. I invite you, in the name of 
Christ crucified, to give your blood for His, when the time comes 
which the servants of God are expecting, f or going to win back 
what has been taken from us : namely, the holy place of the 
sepulchre of Christ, as well as the souls of the infidels, who are 
our brothers, bought back by the blood of Christ even as we ; to 
redeem the place from their hands, and their souls from the hands 
of the demons and from their infidelity, I invite you not to be 
negligent nor tardy, when the Holy Father raises the standard of 
the most holy Cross, and orders the sweet and holy expedition. 
I beseech you, by the love of Christ crucified, to await with 
gladness and desire the invitation to these sweet and glorious 
nuptials, where impurity will be left behind, and the soul, free 
from sin and penalty, will be fed at the table of the Lamb. You 
would indeed be foolish to keep away from such great delight. It 
seems to me that any one who could not go upright should go 
there crawling, to show his love for God by giving Him life for 
love of life. Make amends for your failings and for your sins 
with the instrument of your body, even as with the instrument at 
your body you have offended." l 

As far as words went, the response to C atherine's appeals was 
promp t. Mariano d* Oristano, who ruled the island of Sardinia 
under the title of Judge of Arborea, promised to join the Crusade 
in person, and to supply two galleys, a thousand horsemen, three 
thousand foot-soldiers, and six hundred crossbowmen, for ten 
years. The Genoese seemed enthusiastic, 2 Giovanna professed 
herself more than ready. * ( My venerable mother," wrote 
Catherine to the Queen, " I will pray, to the utmost of my 
feeble powers, the supreme and eternal goodness of God that He 
may give you perfect light for this and all your good works, and 
that He may increase desire upon desire in you ; so that, en- 
kindled with the fire of love, you may come from the sovereignty 
of this miserable and transient life to that perpetual city of 

1 Unpublished. Appendix, Letter I. 
a Letter 66 (125)- 
I40 






drfr^Ufofltuettuto acdtocol' 
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padre tft ertfto Joke Jefii drla- 
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padre crmJ&rar diocccrno d^ 
tiedendo dx dio la cecata fctoj? 
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tc ucrtdctfa eontta la pa^rte^cn - 
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\z* \cro d-ccoWiJ dx-ua drtcto 
A cfta Cttrfuatt ta. ooli rimane fnor- 
to dtmortc ctemale crucifi'Dpe- 
crtte tinalrca uotta dracrf ?aV 
pctr dr folo pto txccnto cofr mo * 
r? 'ftdrlimma. inamorata d* 
die fotno ctumo phid-cr umolcr 
(coui tarr Is natit-ci ItiA / lamo- 
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dccta t&xfc tncdctitno pcr^ter*- 
do l\ fed{k pafltonc fcnfttt ua> • 
<Hdimo?vi0 dmoticlo 6tta ear ^ 
nc pcreofcmdo cot ccltetto dcllo- 
dto eC ddU motsr 'odio Ctdifpta ' 
cimcnto del pecmtD amorexfd' 
tc utrtu dilraandoii dtojucl * 



(ocbedto amo cdiando cjtwUo 
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ma udctnto liio alpodre fcota - 
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uooUo oofi mAamutauctafe 



A PAGE OF THE HARLEIAN MS. 3480, SHOWING A PORTION DP 
BAWT CATHERINE'S LETTER TO BART0LOMME0 Ul SMEDUCCiO. 

[Ti fiUr p. 140. 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

Jerusalem, the vision of peace, where the Divine Clemency will 
make us all kings and lords, and will reward every labour to 
whoso endures it for His most sweet love." 1 

To the Queen Mother of Hungary, too, Elizabeth 
Catherine wrote, telling her that Giovanna's support 
secured, imploring her to use her influence with her 
Louis, to induce him to accede to the Pope's request, and serve 
the Church with his arms, "The Church has need of your 
human aid, and you have need of her divine aid. Be assured 
that, the more you give her of your aid, the more you will 
partake of the divine grace, the fire of the Holy Spirit, which 
is contained in her. I, wretched, miserable woman, have nothing 
wherewith to aid her ; but if my blood could be of any avail, I 
would gladly shed it all. But I will do this much : I will give 
her that little particle that God gives me, that it may be helpful 
to her, albeit I see nought in me that is useful that I can give, 
save tears And sighs and continual prayen But you, mother, and 
my lord the King, your son, can aid her with prayers through 
holy desire, and can also at your will and with love support her 
by human aid. Do not shun, then, for the love of God, this 
labour ; but embrace it for Christ crucified, for your own utility 
and exaltation, and to work out your salvation. And pray your 
dear son earnesdy to offer himself for love to serve Holy 
Church." 2 

But, in the meantime, the political horizon in central Italy! 
had been growing darker and darker. The two papal legates, 
Cardinal de Noellet at Bologna, the Abbot of Marmoutier at 
Perugia, were steadily filling the cup of their iniquities to the 
brim, and the prophecies of Birgitta and Petrarca were soon 
to be fulfilled to the letter. In the summer of this year, 1375, 
the storm burst with dramatic suddenness. 

From the outset of Gregory's pontificate, the Florentines had ] 
been alarmed by the subjugation of Perugia, and had attempted 

1 Letter 143 (313), dated August 4. Giovanna, as the descendant of Charles 
of Anjou, bore the title of Queen of Jerusalem. 
3 Letter 145 (311). 

I 4 I 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



to form an alliance with Siena, Pisa, Lucca, and Arezzo, for the 
defence of Tuscany against the supposed sinister designs of the 
papal representatives. They had hitherto, however, found these 
other communes unwilling to enter into any league in which the 
Church was not included. Their growing suspicions that the two 
legates were plotting against the liberties of the Republic, already 
excited by the aid that they had given to the Salimbeni and 
Ubaldini, were brought to a head in June, when, on the con- 
clusion of the truce at Bologna between the Church and the 
Visconti, Hawkwood's mercenaries were dismissed from the 
service of the former. There had been great scarcity of food 
during the spring throughout Florence and the contado (as well as 
elsewhere in Italy) ; but, in spite of the express command from 
the Pope to the contrary, Cardinal de Noellet refused to allow 
grain to be sent thither from the places under his dominion. He 
now wrote to the Signoria that Hawkwood was collecting troops, 
and that, unless Florence would lend him at least sixty thousand 
florins to hire them, he would be unable to prevent these 
mercenaries from assailing the territory of the Republic, The 
Signoria having expressed their inability to find the requisite 
sum, Hawkwood arrived with his company at the Florentine 
frontier. 

There can be little doubt that the ruling faction in Florence 
had been for some time desiring a rupture with the Church, 
partly from really patriotic motives, pardy with a view to 
weakening the power of the Parte Guelfa in the Republic, In 
spite of the explicit allegations of Florentine historians, it is most 
unlikely that either the Pope or his legates had any intention of 
undertaking so impossible a task as the subjugation of Tuscany, 
though it may well be that they contemplated the overthrow of 
the democratic governments, and the establishment of a regime 
less hostile to the aggrandizement of the temporal sovereignty 
of the Church. Cardinal de Noellet probably spoke the truth 
when he declared that he had no longer any control over Hawk- 
wood's movements* and he was, perhaps, really unable to supply 
the Florentines with grain from the cities of Romagna. Gregory 

142 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

could protest, with much show of reason on his side, that the 
Florentines had not the smallest right to object to the truce with 
the Visconti, seeing that they themselves had not contributed 
their share to the payment of the mercenaries, as they were bound 
by the terms of their treaty with the Church. 1 Nevertheless, 
the evil government and iniquitous policy of the papal repre- 
sentatives in Italy was calculated to arouse the worst appre- 
hensions, and the Florentines could not look on with indifference 
while the neighbouring cities, hitherto practically free or ruled by 
friendly potentates, bound to their Republic by the Guelf league, 
were reduced to mere units in a powerful and consolidated State* 
The Pope wrote to the Signoria, complaining of their unworthy 
suspicions of him, protesting his great affection for the Floren- 
tines, and urging them to come to some agreement with the 
Cardinal to prevent Hawkwood's soldiers from harming their 
cities or those of the Church. 2 But it was now too late. On 
June 21, the Florentines made terms on their own account with 
Hawk wood and his Societas Anghrum^ purchasing a five years' 
peace with them for the sum of 130,000 gold florins. A few 
days later, the anti-papal feeling in the city was roused to a height 
of frenzy by the discovery of a plot (which, apparently, was 
revealed by Hawk wood himself) to betray Prato to Cardinal 
de Noellet ; two of the conspirators, a notary and a monk in 
priest's orders, were tortured to death through the streets of 
Florence with appalling cruelty. It was further alleged that an 
agent of the Cardinal had been in Florence, to spy out a site for 
the erection of a papal fortress. 3 Hostilities were now inevitable/ 
On July 24, the Florentines took the politically astute, but 
morally indefensible step, of entering into an alliance for five 
years with Bernabo Visconti, The next day, pleading the danger 



1 Brief of August 8, 1375. Raynaldus, vii. p. 268. Cf. Capponi, Storia delta 
Rtpubbhca di Firenxe, I. pp. 319-322 ; Marchionne Stefani, Lib- IX. rubr. 751 ; 
Ammirato, I. 2. pp. 691, 692. 

2 Briefs of June 16 and 21, Gherardi, La Guerra del Fiorentlnl con Papa 
Gregorio XI, docs. 4 and 5. 

s Diario del MonaldU p. 507 j Ammirato, L 2. p. 693. 

143 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



caused by the coming of the English as their justification, they 
informed the Republics of Pisa, Siena, Lucca, and Arezzo of 
what they had done, and called upon them to join the league. 

Having thus blackmailed the Florentines, Hawkwood, in 
July, came into the contado of Pisa and then into that of Siena, 
compelling each of these communes to make similar terms. Pisa 
paid 30,000 florins, and Siena 35,500 (of which Montepulciano 
contributed 3,000). " In order that the Commune should not 
suffer for what the pastors of the Church had wrongly made 
them pay/' the Florentines and Sienese imposed a heavy tax on the 
ecclesiastics to raise the money, a levy which, in the case of the 
clergy of Siena, amounted to two-thirds of the whole sum . 

Catherine was apparently still at Pisa while these things were 
being done. Hawkwood had previously made a sort of promise 
that he would join the Crusade ; the time seemed ripe for her 
to call upon him to fulfil his word, and so leave Tuscany in peace. 
She accordingly sent Fra Raimondo to the English camp, with a 
letter to Hawkwood and his captains, exhorting them to abandon 
the service and pay of the devil, and become soldiers of Christ 
crucified. " I pray you sweetly in Christ Jesus that, since God 
and our Holy Father have ordered the expedition against the 
infidels, and you delight so much in making war and fighting, 
you war no more upon Christians, because it offends God ; but 
go against those others* How cruel it is that we who are 
Christians, members bound in the body of Holy Church, should 
persecute one another ! I am much amazed that, after having 
promised (as I have heard) to go to die for Christ in this holy 
enterprise, you should now be making war here, This is not the 
holy disposition that God demands from you." This letter is, 
however, merely the credentials for Fra Raimondo, who is to give 
them her full message by word of mouth. " My father and son, 
Fra Raimondo, is bringing you this letter. Trust what he tells 
you, for he is a true, faithful servant of God, and will not advise 
or tell you anything save what is for the honour of God, and the 
salvation and glory of your soul." So much were Hawkwood 
and his captains impressed by the friar's exhortations, that they 

I44 






UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

all took a solemn oath that, if the Crusade really started, they 
would go, and Raimondo returned to Catherine with their signed 
arid sealed promises to this effect. 1 

In August, the Florentines elected eight magistrates, two for 
each quarter of the city, known as the Otto della Bal)a y or Otto 
della Guerra> to carry on the conflict with the Church. These 
included representatives of each order in the State : one noble, 
Alessandro de' Bardi ; one ar tisan , Giovanni di Mone ; six 
burghers, Giovanni Dini, Giovanni Megalotti, Andrea Salviati, 
Tommaso Strozzi, Guccio Gucci, Matteo Soldi, They were 
all men of mark, able and experienced, animated by sincere 
patriotism, haters of the prepotency of the Parte Guelfa ; such 
popularity did they acquire by their energetic management of the 
task committed to them, that they were called the Otto Santi. Eight 
other officials, known as the Otto di livelli^ were appointed, to 
tax the clergy and the churches for the defence of the city** 
Mercenaries were hired, German cavalry obtained from Bernabo, 
and a German condottiere, Conrad Wertinger, who was in the 
service of Galeazzo Visconti, was elected captain-general of the 
forces of the Republic, The Abbot of Marmoutier having 
arrested the Florentine ambassador at Perugia, the Florentines 
seized and imprisoned the papal nuncio, Luca Bertini, Bishop of 
Narni, who was returning from Avignon to the Patrimony. 3 



1 Letter 140 (220). 

2 Cf, Ghcrardi, <p. r/7., p. 23 ; Marchionnc Stefan i, Lib, IX. rubr* 752, 753 ; 
and, for a hostile contemporary view of "citizens who had such presumption as 
to consent to be called janfi" Scream bi, Croniche, I. p> 213, 

1 Cf. Raynaldus, vii. p. 279 ; Cronica Sanese, col. 246. The statement made 
by Augusta Drane (I. p. 347), and copied from her by more recent writers, that 
•' the mad Ghibelline mob, encouraged by their * Eight Saints/ after slaughtering 
the inquisitors, seized the papal nuncio and flayed him alive in the streets of 
Florence," is entirely inaccurate. The papal bull (Raynaldus, ke* at.) merely 
says that the nuncio was aliquandiu crudefusimo carccre dtttntus. For an account of 
this personage, who was afterwards Bishop of Siena, see G. A. Pecci, Steria dtt 
Vixwado di Siena, pp. 288-290. Augusta Drane has, perhaps, confused him 
with the monk Niccot6 who had been so horribly put to death, probably unjustly, 
for the affair of Prato, 



IO 



US 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Nevertheless, war was not openly declared against the Church, 
and a show of diplomatic relations was maintained with the papal 
legates. The other Tuscan communes showed no eagerness to 
enter the league, Pi ero Ga mbgcorti was divided between his 
religious feelings and his need of Florentine support ; Siena had 
differences concerning boundaries with Pisa and ArezzOj, which 
latter State was the first to adhere to Florence ; Lucca still 
regarded the Church as her liberator from the foreign yoke, and 
was most unwilling to commit herself to any hostile action, a Do 
not allow yourselves to be deceived by any flatteries/' wrote 
the Pope to the government of Lucca, u nor corrupted by any 
sedition, nor terrified by any threats from those who are, perchance, 
striving to disturb your peace and pervert your devotion, and who 
reduce the liberty of their neighbours to servitude when they 
can ; but, like most devoted sons, be columns of the Church 
which desires and seeks your liberty." l 

Catherine was sti ll at Pisa at the beginning of September, 
where we find her, on the second day of the month, dictating to 
Fra Raimondo a letter to the new Senator of Siena, the Marchese 
Pietro del Monte Santa Maria, a religious and upright noble from 
Umbria, through whom she was able to keep in constant touch 
with the government of her native city during her absence at this 
time. 2 Shortly after, however 3 she returned with her spiritual 
family to Siena, Fra Raimondo apparently remaining at Pisa, 
where he was still busy with the affairs of the Crusade. But her 
stay at Siena was very brief. The City of the Virgin could look 
after herself, and was too powerful to be coerced, while the 
position of Pisa and Lucca was difficult in the extreme. Almost 
immediately, probably through the medium of Alfonso da Vada- 
terra, Catherine received a command from the Pope to repair to 
Lucca, to confirm that Republic in its tottering allegiance to the 
Holy See. 

Tommaso Caffarini and Neri di Landoceio are the only two 
of Catherine's household that we know for certain accompanied 

1 Brief of August io, 1375. Pastor, Qachuhte y I. doc. 3, 
* Letter 135 {209). Cf. Cronfca $antse 9 coll. 244, 250. 

H 6 






UNDER A DARKENING SKY 

her to Lucca., and it is to the pen of the former that we owe the 
account of her visit to this most beautiful of Tuscan cities , with its 
vines and olives and distant hills of marble, where Ruskin, almost 
exactly five hundred years later, saw u one glow of calm glory 
and perfect possibilities of human life.*" The rulers of the 
Republic and private citizens alike received her with every 
manifestation of reverence and affection ; for the signs and 
wonders, both spiritual and material, that she wrought here as 
previously at Siena and at Pisa, together with the burning words 
that she uttered, convinced them that she '* tau ght as one that CV/^, 
had authority, and not as the scribes/' 1 A little group of letters 
still preserved, addressed by her after her departure to women of 
Lucca with those beautifully sounding names, Mellina, Colomba, 
Caterina, Chiara, Bartolommea, Lagina, shows us the intense 
personal love for herself that she aroused in their hearts, to such 
an extent that her presence had become all in all to them. " My 
beloved daughters," she says in one, "love God without any inter- 
mediary. And, if you wish to love Him through me, wretched 
and miserable woman as I am, I will teach you where to find me. 
That you may not depart from this true love, go to that most 
sweet and venerable Cross with the sweet enamoured Magdalene ; 
there you will find the Lamb and me, where your desires can be 
fed and nourished and fulfilled. In this way would I have you 
seek me and all created things ; let this be your standard and 
your consolation. And do not think, because my body is far 
from you, that my affection and my care for your salvation is 
taken from you ; nay, it is greater when I am absent bodily than 
when present. Know you not that the holy disciples knew and 
felt their Master more after His departure than before? For 
they took such delight in His humanity that they sought no 
further ; but, after His presence had gone, they began to know 
and understand His goodness. Therefore said the first Truth : 

1 Caflarini's account of Catherine's stay at Lucca is in his SuppUmtntum, 
Tantucci, pp. 107, 108. Neri di Landoccio, in his capital* in praise of St, 
Catherine (printed at the end of Toresano's edition of the Letters) refers to 1 
promise she made him there, 

147 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



// is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you. So say I : it was expedient that 
I should go away from you, in order that you should set your- 
selves to seeking God in truth, and not with any intermediary. I 
tell you that you will fare better now than before, if you enter 
into yourselves to think upon the words and the teaching that 
has been given you, and in this way you will receive the fulness 
of the grace of God/* l In these letters, there are constant 
references to the love of Mary Magdalene for her Divine Master, 
and it is fitting that the one memorial of Catherine in Lucca 
to-day should be the great picture by Fra Bartolomrneo dcllu 
Porta , which represents the Magdalene and Catherine together in 
ecstatic adoration of the sovereign mystery of the Christian 
faith. 

We do not know how long Catherine stayed at Lucca, Her 
mission was to the magistrates of the Republic rather than to the 
women, and, as soon as she thought she had confirmed them in 
their resolution of not joining the league, she passed on to Pisa, 
where her influence over Piero Gambacorti secured the neutrality 
of that State and a promise that Lucca would be protected by 
its power, if necessary. She had, apparently, anticipated that her 
absence from Siena would be a brief one, but she now found it 
impossible to leave Pisa. u I am afraid," she wrote to Fra 
Tommaso della Fonte, " that I must obey the orders that have 
been given me ; for the Archbishop has asked the General for me 
to remain still some days. Beseech that venerable Spaniard to 
obtain grace for us that we may not return empty. But, by the 
grace of God, I do not think I shall return empty/* 2 

At the end of October, a Florentine citizen renowned for 
eloquence and patriotism, Donate Barbadori, arrived at Pisa as 
ambassador from the Commune of Florence, bearing a letter from 



1 Letter 164 (348). 

1 Letter 139 (106), C£ Dante, Par. xi. 129. I am inclined to think that 
this vtnercbili Spagnuok is not Alfonso da Vadaterra (as supposed by the editors of 
the Letters), but St. Domi nic himself, as we find Catherine elsewhere asking 
Dominicans to invoke his intercession m similar language, Cf. below, p. 319. 

I48 




UNDER A DARKENING SKY 



the Signoria, expressing their amazement that the Pisans had 
rejected their overtures. His instructions were to exhort Messer 
Piero and the Anziani to enter the league, and, if they refused, to 
warn them in strong language of the indignation this would arouse 
in Florence. He was then to do the same at Lucca, where, if the 
citizens answered that they would enter the league only when the 
other communes of Tuscany had done so, he was to tell them 
openly that he had had a favourable reply from Pisa (if it were 
so), and to add that the Sienese were most ready to follow the 
same course. And Indeed, on November 27, Siena formally 
joined the league, stipulating that it should not last less than four 
years, that she should not be bound to keep more than one 
hundred and fifty lances in its service, and that none of the 
confederates should aid the Aretines against her. 1 Nevertheless, 
Pisa and Lucca both stood firm, albeit the latter State gave way 
so far as to allow a free passage through its territory to a body of 
men-at-arms that Bernabo Visconti was sending to Florence. 

The Florentines had at length realized that, even with the 
doubtful adherence of the other Tuscan communes, the assistance 
of Bernabo Visconti alone would not suffice to enable them to 
fight against the Pope — especially as Hawkwood, in spite of the 
enormous bribe that he was still receiving from the Republic, had 
gone back, in September, to the service of the Church. In 
addition, at the beginning of October, the Pope (as, indeed, he 
had done several times before) announced his intention of 
returning very shortly to Rome. This the Florentines resolved 
Xtt-preveJit. With the consent of the Signoria, the Otto della 
Guerra undertook to stir up a general rebellion of all the cities 
and towns of the Papal States. Envoys and letters were de- 
spatched, offering all the forces of the Republic to aid them, and 
promising to preserve their liberty. Let them remember that 
they are Italians, whose portion it is to command and not to obey. 
Let them contrast the sweetness of liberty with the tyrannical v t 
rule of the barbarians whom the pastors of the Church have sent V 
from Gaul to oppress them. Let them shake off the shameful 
1 Ghcrardi, op, dt, t p. 20, docs. 83 and 84. 

149 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



/ 



yoke of the foreigner, and show themselves worthy of liberty and 
the Italian name. 1 

There was an immediate and almost unanimous response to 
this appeal The exactions and misrule of the papal officials had 
passed the limit of endurance, and the indignation of the Peru- 
gians had been further aroused by the death of the wife of one of 
their citizens, who, to escape from the violent hands of a nephew 
of the Abbot of Marmoutier, had thrown herself from the 
window of her house, and been dashed to pieces on the pavement 
below. On December 3, with the aid of Florentine troops, the 
inhabitants of Citta di Castello began the revolt. Viterbo 
followed. The Abbot promptly sent his English mercenaries 
against the rebels, upon which, on December 7, the whole people 
of Perugia, nobles and populace alike, rose in arms, <c in the name 
of God, of His Mother Mary, and of the blessed Saints Ercolano, 
Lorenzo* and Costanzo," shouting " Death to the pastors of the 
Church ! " There was a general rush of all the papal officials and 
adherents to the citadel, to which Gomez Albornoz, after a vain 
attempt to beat back the insurgents, also retreated. The 
connecting wings of the fortress were broken down, and the 
Abbot, with Gomez and the rest, were kept closely blockaded, 
continually harassed by the rudimentary artillery of the epoch, 
especially a formidable trabocco % or ballista, which hurled gigantic 
stones, and was christened caccia-preti y the *' priest-hunter/' 2 

Gubbio, Sassoferrato, Urbino, Todi, Forlt, and other cities 
rose in rapid succession. In ten days, more than eighty cities and 
towns in the Patrimony, Umbria, and the Marches had been lost 
to the Church, Of the larger cities, Rome, Ancona, and Orvieto 
alone did not move. The Malatesta at Rimini and the Trinci at 
Foligno still declared for the Church, and the soldiery of Gomez 
Albornoz still held Ascoli. Messenger after messenger rode into 
Florence, bearing the branch of olive from the revolted cities* 

1 Gherardi, op. cit. f doc. 103, 

a There is a vivid account of this liberation of Perugia "from the hands of 
the accursed pastors of the Church * in the Supplement to Graiam's Chronicle, pp. 
220-224. 

150 



UNDER A DARKENING SKY 



The bells were rung and the city was illuminated. Horse and 
foot were promptly despatched to support the insurgents, and to 
each town the Florentines sent a red standard with Liber las 
emblazoned upon it in white letters, which, together with the flag 
of the Commune, floated in front of their troops. Each place as 
it rose was received into the league; but, although the Florentines 
rigidly abstained from gaining any advantage to themselves, they 
cared less for the liberation of the people than for the expulsion of 
their pastors. Without any protest from them, the former tyrants, 
whom Cardinal Albornoz had expelled, in many cases returned ; 
Francesco di Vico seized Viterbo for himself, Sinibaldo degli 
Ordelaffi (the son of the formidable Francesco) entered Forli, the 
Alidosi retook Imola, and the Polentani Ravenna, while Count 
Antonio da Montefeltro occupied Urbino. 

Catherine was still at Pisa when the news of the revolution in 
the Papal States reached the city. She was at that time staying in 
a hospice in the piazza di Santa Caterina, near the convent and 
church of the Dominicans. Fra Raimondo and his companion, 
Fra Pietro da Velletri, told her the news, u This is milk and 
honey," she said, c * in comparison with what is to follow. Thus, 
father, do the lay folk act now, but soon you will see how much 
worse will be the deeds of ecclesiastics. When the Roman Pontiff 
will strive to correct their wicked lives, they will cause a universal 
scandal in the whole Holy Church of God, which, in the fashion T, 
of a pestilent heresy, will divide her and torment her." 1 Thus,^-* 
Raimondo assures us, did Catherine foretell the schism which they 
were both soon to witness, 

After this overwhelming triumph for the Florentines, it 
became increasingly dangerous for Pisa and Lucca to resist their 
overtures. It was probably before leaving Pisa that Catherine 
made a fresh appeal to the Anziani of Lucca by letter, not to for- 
sake the cause of the Church. M If you tell me that it seems that 
she is failing and cannot even help herself, much less her children, 
I answer that it is not so, although it may seem like it to the 
outward show. If vou look within, you will find that strenf 



you 



you 



igth 



Lcgtnda, II. x. 8-ro (§ § 284-286). 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

which her enemies are deprived. I pray you, then, by the love of 
Christ crucified, dearest brothers and sons of Holy Church, to 
keep ever firm and persevering in what you have begun/* She 
urges them at length, by every argument shef can muster, to face 
every danger rather than join the league, and concludes with a 
promise of help from Pisa. " I tell you that, if you were to 
remain alone, you should stand firm in this field, and not look 
back ; but, by the grace of God, there is another there too. 
There are the Pisans, your neighbours, who, if you stand firm and 
persevere, will never fail you, but will ever aid you and defend you 
until death from whosoever would injure you. Ah, sweetest 
brothers, what demon will be able to coerce those two members 
who are bound together, in order not to offend God, in the bond 
of charity ? " 1 

1 Letter 168 (206). 



152 



CHAPTER VIII 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 

« E crencendo in roe ii fuoco, mirando vcdevo net cottato di Cristo crocifi»»o intrare 'I 
popolo cristiano e lo infcdele ; e io passavo, per desiderio c afTetto d 'am ore, per lo mezzo dl 
loro I ed eutraio con loro in Cristo doicc Gesu, accompagnata cot padre mio santo Domenico, 
e Giovanni aingolare con tutti quanti t figliuoli miei. E allora mi dava la croce in collo 
e L'olivo in mann, quasi come io voles*! ; e coal diceva cue io la porgene all' uno popolo e 
airahro. rt — ist. Catherine, Letter 119 (87). 

To one endowed with the prophetic spirit, a sinister sign of the 
times must have appeared in the creation of cardinals, the second 
since Gregory's elevation to the pontificate, which took place on 
December 21 in this year, 1375. Among these nine new 
princes of the Church were three of the Pope's own kinsmen, 
including Gerard du Puy, the infamous Abbot of Marmoutier, who 
was still besieged in the citadel of Perugia. All were French, 
with the exception of Simone Brossano, the archbishop-elect of 
Milan, and Pedro de Luna, a young Spanish prelate of noble 
birth, great learning, and apparently sincere piety, who held a 
professorship in the University of Montpellien ** Take heed/' 
said Gregory to Pedro de Luna, M lest thy moon suffer eclipse." 
Yet, judged by what might have seemed the higher standard* the 
Cardinal of Aragon* as he was called, was the only one of the 
nine not unworthy of his elevation. 

Gregory's choice of cardinals utterly destroyed all hopes in a 
possible reformation of the Sacred College, To Catherine, who 
had just returned to Siena when the news reached Italy, it seemed 
a cruel act of cowardice on the Pope's part, a putting ointment 
upon a mortifying wound where the steel and the cautery were 
needed for the life of the patient. So we gather from t he first of 
her letters to Gregory which have been preserved to us, evidently 
written about the beginning of the following year, 1376, "with 
desire of seeing you a fruitful tree, planted in the soil of true 

*5J 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

knowledge of yourself." Love of self has corrupted prelates and 
subjects alike, and no one dares begin the work of reform. ** The 
sick man is blind, for he knows not his own need, and the pastor, 
who is the physician, is blind, for he considers nothing save his 
own pleasure and advantage, and, in order not to lose that, does 
not employ the knife of justice nor the fire of most ardent charity. 
Such a one is truly a hireling shepherd, because not only does he 
not draw his little sheep out of the hand of the wolf, but he him- 
self devours them ; and the cause of all this is that he loves 
himself without God, and does not follow sweet Jesus, the true 
Shepherd, who has given His life for His sheep. O babho mio, 
sweet Christ on earth, follow that sweet Gregory, for it will be as 
possible to you to quench self-love as it was to him, for he was of 
the same flesh as you ; and the same God is now who was then ; we 
only need virtue and hunger for the salvation of souls. This is 
our remedy, father ; that we lift up this love above ourselves and 
every creature outside God ; let us think no more of friends and 
kinsmen, nor of temporal necessities, but only of virtue and of 
the exaltation of spiritual things ; for temporal things are failing 
you for no other reason save that you have abandoned the care of 
spiritual things/ 1 u I beseech you to send to Lucca and to Pisa, 
dealing with them like a father as God will teach you, helping 
them in whatever can be done, and inviting them to stand firm 
and persevere. I have been at Pisa and at Lucca until now, inviting 
them, to the utmost of my power, not to make a league with the 
putrid members who are rebels to you. But they are in great 
perplexity, because they have no encouragement from you, and 
are being continually urged with threats by the other side to join 
it. But, up to now, they have not entirely consented. I beseech 
you also to write forcibly to Messer Piero, and do it zealously 
and do not delay. I have heard that you have made some 
cardinals. I believe that it would be more to the honour of 
God, and better for yourself, if you would always take care to 
make virtuous men. If the contrary is done, it will be a great 
insult to God and the ruination of Holy Church. And let us 
not wonder afterwards, if God sends His chastisements and His 

'54 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 

scourges upon us, for it is just, I beseech you, do what you 
have to do manfully and with fear of God." 1 

Already the dyer's daughter of Siena could address the 
Sovereign Pontiff in terms almost dictatorial. And, indeed, 
Gregory had need of such virile counsellors. His newly created 
Cardinal du Puy had been compelled to surrender the citadel of 
Perugia to the insurgents, on January i f 1376. A fortnight 
later, the Florentine force returned to Florence in triumph, 
crowned with garlands of olive, to the sound of music and the 
pealing of bells. Hardly had Catherine returned to Siena when, 
on the very day of the surrender of the citadel of Perugia, Donato 
Barbadori again appeared as ambassador at Pisa, sent by the 
Eight to that city and to Lucca, once more to demand the 
abandonment of their neutrality. And, on March 13, the 
Signoria of Florence wrote exultantly to Bernabo Visconti : 
"Yesterday, by the grace of God, we concluded the league with 
the Pi sans and the Lucchestf." 3 Nevertheless, in thus joining the 
league under compulsion, neither Piero Gambacorti nor the 
Anziani of Lucca intended to undertake any hostile measures 
against the Pope, and the latter Republic had expressly stipulated 
that none of the confederates should be compelled to help any 
other who should occupy possessions of the Church. 

Immediately after the surrender of the citadel of Perugia, 
the Signoria of Florence addressed an impassioned appeal to the 
Romans, through Coluccto Salutati, the famous chancellor of 
the Republic, one of whose letters in after years was to seem more 
formidable to Gian Galeazzo Visconti than an army of twenty 
thousand men. God has had compassion upon Italy, he wrote, 
and has raised up the spirit of her peoples against the most foul 
tyranny of barbarians. This must be particularly pleasing to the 

1 Letter 185 (i), corrected by the Harleian MS. Catherine wrote simultane- 
ously to the Archbishop of Otranto, urging him fearlessly to tell the Pope the truth 
about what seemed to him to be for the honour of God and the renovation ol 
the Church ; and to the papal secretary, Niccolo da Osimo, offering Fra Raimondo 
for the Church's service. Letters 183 (33) and 181 {40), 

1 Gherardi, op cit. f doc. 183, 

155 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Romans, whose love of liberty made them masters of the world. 
Let them rise, too, and aid in expelling this abomination from Italy, 
for this will be a truly Roman work. Let them not be seduced 
by the suggestions of the priests that, if they support the state of 
the Church, the Pope will bring back the Roman Curia to Italy, 
Surely the Romans will not suffer Italy to be trampled under foot 
for their own gain. The example of Urban V has shown how 
little such promises can be trusted, and, indeed, if the Pope comes, 
he will set his seat at Perugia instead of Rome. w Therefore, 
dearest brothers, consider their deeds, not their words ; for not 
your advantage, but their lust of domination is bringing them back 
to Italy* Be not deceived by honeyed words, and do not suffer 
your Italy, which your forefathers with the cost of so much blood 
made the head of all the world, to be subject to barbarians and 
foreigners. Repeat once more the saying of the famous Cato : 
We do not so much desire to be free as to live with freemen/' l 

But the Romans were resolved to do nothing to prevent the 
restoration of the Apostolic See to the Eternal City. "We had 
firmly intended," wrote Gregory to all the States and peoples of 
Italy, a few days later, ** to return with the Roman Curia to the 
Supreme City and our other towns in Italy, and to live and die 
among you, and to relieve you of the heavy burdens which, on 
account of the whirlwinds of warfare, you have borne, to our great 
displeasure and that of our predecessors, and to preserve you in 
peace, and rule you with beneficent government with the aid of 
the Most High," 2 He further appointed a Roman, Cardinal 
Francesco Tebaldeschi, a good man but enfeebled by age and 
illness, to succeed the Cardinal Abbot of Marmoutier as vicar- 
general of the Church in the Papal States. Simultaneously, he 
attempted to come to terms with the league, through the 
intervention of the Queen of Naples and the Doge of Genoa, who 
sent two ambassadors, Niccolo Spinelli and Bartolommeo Giacoppi, 
to Florence. But, before they arrived, Gregory, on February 1 1 , 

1 Letter of January 4, 1376, Pastor, Getchkhte, L document 4. 
* Litfcrae hor tatit uie pro parte domini nostrl papae f etc. Dated Avignon, January 
6, 1376. Bibliotcca Vaticana, Cod. Fat. Lat 6330, f, 430, 

156 









BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



formulated a terrible process against the Florentines, which they 
described as too atrocious to be addressed even to schismatics and 
infidels, enumerating their real or alleged offences against the 
Holy See, summoning by name all the citizens who had held 
office since June to appear in person at Avignon before the last 
day of March. A few days later, with Florentine aid, the city of 
Ascoli, upon which the liberty of the whole of the Marches 
depended, rose against the Church, and Gomez Albornoz, who 
had taken refuge here after the surrender at Perugia, found 
himself besieged in the citadeL 

From Siena, Catherine watched the course of events with 
agonized dismay s h muoio dt dolore e non posso morire y she 
writes; u I am dying of grief and cannot die.' 1 It seemed to her 
that the jaws of hell were opened, and that the devils were 
carrying off the souls of men on every side. While admitting tc 
the full that the iniquities and oppression of the papal officials were 
the real cause of the war, and that, humanly speaking, the rising 
of the cities of the States of the Church had ample justification, 
she regarded rebellion against the Pope as in itself a mortal sin, and 
in consequence, the policy of the Florentines as almost diabolical 
Her soul is rent in twain between Italy and the Church, between 
'liberty and religion, and hence comes what at times seems the 
exquisite inconsistency of the letters with which she attempted 
to win the contending parties to counsels of charity and peace, 

Niccolo Soderini had been elected one of the priors of the 
Florentine Republic who held office for the first two months of 
1376, and found himself most reluctantly forced into an attitude 
of hostility towards the Church* To him Catherine wrote, 
" with desire of seeing you a member bound and united in the 
bond of true charity, in such wise that you may partake of this 
true love, and that, now that you have been made head and set in 
signory, you may be the means to help to bind all these members, 
your citizens, so that they may not stay in such peril of the 
damnation of soul and body," Whoso goes against the Church, 
cuts himself off from the sacraments, and despises the blood of 
Christ. If they will humble themselves, the Pope is ready to 

'57 





SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



_v 



receive them ; he is inviting them to peace, notwithstanding the 
injury he has received from them* They are misled if they think 
themselves the offended parties, for the sins of God's ministers 
should have been left to Him to punish, *' I beseech you, 
Niccolo, by that ineffable love with which God has created and so 
sweetly ransomed you, to strive with all your power (for God has 
not given it to you save for some great hidden end) to bring about 
peace and union between your fellow-citizens and Holy Church, 
in order that yourselves and all Tuscany may not be imperilled. 11 1 

And to the Pope she wrote, bidding him win back the revolted 
cities by love alone : — 

u O my sweet, most holy babbo, I can see no other means for 
you to have back your little sheep, who like rebels have strayed 
from the fold of Holy Church, Wherefore I pray you in the 
name of Christ crucified, and I would have you do this mercy for 
me, conquer their malice with your benignity* We are yours, O 
father ; and I know that they all in general realize that they have 
done wrong ; but, albeit they have no excuse for working evil, 
nevertheless, because of the hardships and cruel injustice that 
they suffered by reason of bad pastors and governors, it seemed 
to them impossible to act otherwise. For when they perceived the 
stench of the life of many of their rulers, who you know are 
demons incarnate, they came into such exceeding fear that they 
have acted like Pilate, who slew Christ in order not to lose 
lordship ; and so have they done, for they have persecuted you 
in order not to lose their state. I crave mercy, then, father, from 
you for them. Do not look at the ignorance and pride of your 
sons ; but, with love and kindness, giving what gentle punish- 
ment and benign rebuke that will please your Holiness, render 
peace to us, wretched children who have offended, I tell you, 
sweet Christ on earth, in the name of Christ in heaven, that, if 
you act thus, without storm or strife, they will all come in sorrow 
for the offence committed and will lay their heads in your lap. 

1 Letter 171 (417). Cf. Marchionne Stefani, Lib, IX. rubr. 762. From 
1344, the Florentine priors began their two months of office from the calends, 
instead of the 15 th day as in Dante's time. 

158 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



Then you will rejoice, and we shall rejoice ; for with love you 
will have put back the sheep that was lost into the fold of Holy 
Church. And then, my sweet babbo, you will fulfil your holy 
desire and the will of God in carrying out the holy enterprise ; to 
which I invite you if) His name, to do it soon and without 
negligence. And they will join with great affection, for they are 
disposed to give their lives for Christ. Ah, God, sweet Love ! 
Uplift soon the banner of the most holy Cross, babbo, and you 
wiU see the wolves become lambs. Peace, peace, peace ; so that 
the war may not postpone this sweet time. But if you wish to 
execute vengeance and justice, wreak it upon me, miserable and 
wretched woman, and give me every pain and torment that you 
like, even unto death. I believe that, through the odour of my 
own iniquities, many defects and many disasters and discords have 
come. Then upon me, your miserable daughter, inflict whatever 
punishment you will, Alas, father, I am dying of sorrow and 
cannot die. Come, come, and no more withstand the will of God 
which calls you ; the starving sheep are awaiting your coming to 
hold and possess the place of your ancestor and champion, the 
Apostle Peter ; for, as vicar of Christ, you are bound to repose 
in your own place. Come, then, come, and delay no more ; take 
heart and fear nought that could befall, for God will be with 
you/' * 

The Florentines had already appealed to the Cardinals Piero 
Corsini and Jacopo Orsini to take their part in the papal court, 
and promised to send ambassadors to prove their innocence. 
Catherine likewise wrote to these two prelates, imploring them to 
use their influence in hastening the Pope's coming to Italy and 
the beginning of the Crusade ; she urged the Florentine Cardinal 
to labour for the reformation of the Church by his own word 
and example, and the Roman to press the Pope to make peace 
with the revolted cities. 2 But the Florentines made no show of 
laying down their arms, while town after town in the Papal States, 
including Assisi at the beginning of March, rose against the 
ecclesiastical officials and joined the league. The two papal 
1 Letter 196 (4). * Letters 177 (29) and 223 (28). 

159 



n 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



ambassadors at length arrived from Bologna, and made three 
alternative offers on behalf of the Pope : a truce for five years 
with Bernabo and the Florentines and their allies, the rebellious 
cities, in the meanwhile, to pay their usual tribute to the apostolic 
treasury ; a perpetual peace with Bernabo and the Florentines, 
and a truce of five years with the others, who would, as in the 
former case, still pay their tribute ; a general peace with the 
whole league, the question of the rebellious towns to be referred 
to the arbitration of the King of Hungary, the Queen of Naples, 
or the Lord of Padua, at the choice of the Florentines 
themselves. 1 These terms were rejected by the Florentines, 
Their agents were busy in Bologna, where Cardinal de Noellet 
was suspected of being about to pawn the fortresses of the 
Commune to Hawkwood, as he had already done with 
Bagnacavallo, to pay the English. On the night of March 20, 
the Bolognese nobles, led by Taddeo Azzoguidi, rose against the 
legate, while the petty signori of the con tado, with Florentine aid, 
entered the city with their armed retainers. Taken by surprise, 
the Cardinal surrendered the keys of the gates and castles, and 
his mercenaries made no resistance. The news caused wild 
exultation in Florence, for, says the Bolognese chronicler, u all 
that they had done to overthrow the state of the Church would 
have been of no avail, if Bologna had not rebelled." 2 A strong 
force of troops with the banner of liberty, under Conrad 
Wertinger, was at once despatched to Bologna, and received with 
enthusiasm. The government of the city was put into the hands 
of sixteen Anziani, four for each quarter, and the Cardinal 
escorted to Ferrara, where the Marquis held for the Church. 
Bagnacavallo and Faenza were still in the hands of the papa- 

1 Cf. Gherardi, 0/. n/. f p. 43 »., where it is shown that there is 110 foundation 
for the usual statement that the Pope offered to leave Perugia and Citta di Castello 
at liberty, provided the Florentines proceeded no further and did not molest 
Bologna, The financial side of the whole question was of vital importance to 
the Holy See. From Bologna, alone, the Pope drew the annual sum of *oo>ooo 
florins. Cf. Cronkn <fi Bofogna, col. 498. 

* Cronica di Bologna, coll 499-501, 

160 






BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 






lini % the former under Hawkwood, the latter ruled by a French 
prelate under the title of Count of Romagna. Fearing for his 
position, this latter sent for Hawkwood and the English, who 
burst into Faenza, shouting Viva la Chiesa y sacked the town, and 
expelled all the inhabitants, save a number of women whom they 
kept for their own lusts. Two of Hawkwood's captains or 
caporali were fighting together for the possession of a beautiful 
young girl, a novice from one of the convents, who cried upon 
her divine Bridegroom and His Mother to deliver her, when 
Hawkwood came upon the scene. Unable to separate them, he 
stabbed the girl to death with his own dagger, f< And so/' writes 
Fra Filippo, " the Virgin Mary heard her and delivered her ; 
virgin and martyr and bride of her Son, she bore her away to 
the realm of life eternal, as it is written in the Psalm : lest the 
righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity." l Shortly after, 
Hawkwood sold both Bagnacavallo and Faenza to the Marquis of 
Ferrara, to obtain the arrears of pay that were owed him by the 
Church, 

In spite of the expulsion of the legate from Bologna, the 
position of the Florentines was highly critical. If the Pope were 
to promulgate his sentence and could induce the nations to enforce 
it, the whole mercantile traffic of the Republic would be destroyed. 
Rumours had already reached them of papal galleys being 
equipped in haste at Marseilles to prey upon their commerce, of 
a great army of formidable Breton mercenaries being taken into 
the pay of the Church. It was, above all, imperative to gain time. 
<c Because of the process," writes Fra Raimondo, u they were 
compelled to treat for peace with the Sovereign PontifF, through 
the means of persons who they knew were acceptable to him. 
They were informed that the holy virgin, by reason of the 
fame of her sanctity, was most pleasing in the Pope's sight. 
Therefore they ordained that I should first go to the said 

1 Auempro 58:" Come una vergine fii guardata da la Vergine Maria per 
martirio." The sack of Faenza was on March 2 8, 1376. Cf. Crottaca R'mlntu 
{Rer. It. Siri/>t. f xv.)> col. 9T4 ; Cronka di Bologna, coll. 501, 502. There was 
little actual bloodshed. 

ix 161 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Sovereign Pontiff, in the name of Catherine, in order to 
mitigate his indignation/* The friar was apparently to dispose 
the Pope in favour of the two Florentine ambassadors, who 
were already on their way. He started about the fourth 
week in March, accompanied by Giovanni Tantueci, Felice da 
Massa, and others of Catherine's household, with the letter of 
credentials from Catherine to the Pope which we still possess , 
beseeching the wavering Pontiff to make himself with the aid of 
divine grace, the instrument for the pacification of the entire 
world. She bids him, in the name of Christ crucified, extirpate 
the evil pastors and rulers, " full of impurity and cupidity, 
puffed up with pride,' ' the foul plants who are poisoning the 
garden of the Church ; and plant in their stead * c sweet smelling 
flowers, pastors and governors who will be true servants of Jesus 
Christ, who will attend to nought else save the honour of God 
and the salvation of souls, and who will be fathers of the poor," 
Hitherto, the luxurious lives of the prelates have been shamed by 
comparison with the virtues of many of the laity : " But it seems 
that the supreme and eternal Goodness is having done by force 
what has not been done for love ; it seems that He is allowing 
states and pleasures to be taken from His Spouse, as though to 
show that He wished Holy Church to return into her primitive 
state of poverty, humility, meekness, as she was in that holy time, 
when they attended to nought else save the honour of God and 
the salvation of souls, caring for spiritual things and not temporal. 
For, since she has aimed more at temporal than at spiritual things, 
her affairs have gone from bad to worse." But let the Pope 
take heart and fear nothing ; if only he will come to Italy and 
raise the standard of the Cross, all will be well. But he must 
come like a meek lamb, u using the arms of the power of love 
alone, aiming only to have the care of spiritual things M : — 

** Answer the summons of God, who is calling you to come 
to hold and possess the place of the glorious pastor St. Peter, 
whose vicar you are. Lift up the banner of the holy Cross. 
Come, and you will reform the Church with good pastors. 
You will give her back the colour of most burning charity 

162 






BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 

which she has lost ; for so much blood has been sucked from 
her by iniquitous devourers, that she has become all pallid. 
But take heart and come, father, and do not make the servants 
of God wait, who are afflicted with desire, And I, miserable, 
wretched woman, can wait no more ; living, I seem to die in pain 
at seeing God so outraged* Do not postpone the peace because 
of what has happened at Bologna, but come ; for I tell you that 
the fierce wolves will lay their heads in your lap like meek lambs, 
and crave you to pardon them, father. I say no more. I beseech 
you, father, to hear and listen to what Fra Raimondo will tell you, 
and the other sons who are with him, who are coming in the 
name of Christ crucified and in my name ; for they are true 
servants of Christ and children of Holy Church/* l 

And, a little later, she wrote to Raimondo and his companions : 
** 1 am dying and cannot die, I am bursting and cannot burst, 
with the desire that I have for the renovation of Holy Church, 
for the honour of God, and the salvation of every creature, and 
of seeing you and the others robed with purity, burned and 
consumed in His most ardent charity. Tell Christ on earth not 
to make me wait any longer. And when I see him, I shall sing 
with that sweet old man Simeon : Lord } now lettest Thou Thy 
servant depart in peace f according to Thy word" 2 

All immediate prospects of a reconciliation between Italy and 
the Holy See seemed dashed to the ground by the revolt 
of Bologna and the sack of Faenza. On the last day of 
March, Jacopo di Ceva, the fiscal advocate of the Curia who had 
formulated the process, demanded in full consistory that sentence 
should be pronounced against the Florentines. Their two am- 
bassadors, Donato Barbadori and Alessandro dell' Antella, duly 



1 Letter 206 (5), amended by the Harlcian MS* Raimondo's own words, 
Ltgenda y III, vi. 26 (§ 420), might be taken as meaning that he was sent to the 
Pope after the promulgation of the sentence against the Florentines ; that is, in 
April ; but the internal evidence of this and Letter 219 (87) seems to fix the date 
of his starting between March 21, the day after the revolt of Bologna, and April 
1, when Catherine had the vision of the cross and olive-branch, 

1 Letter 211 (88). 

163 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



appeared to represent the Commune and the citizens implicated, 
who (they said) could not appear in person, as they were all in 
prison at Florence. They protested the innocence of the 
Republic, painted a lurid picture of the evil deeds of the papal 
legates, and implored an extension of the time that they might 
fully answer all accusations. In reply, Gregory solemnly put 
Florence under the interdict, revoked all privileges granted by 
his predecessors, declared the goods of each Florentine confiscated, 
their possessions and persons to be the free prey of any who 
could make themselves masters of them ; he forbade, under the 
same penalties, any private person, community or prince to have 
any dealings with them or favour them In any way, all previous 
obligations being cancelled, and threatened to invoke the arms 
of all the powers of Christendom upon the entire nation. The 
Eight, together with fifty-one other citizens named (among whom 
was Niccolo Soderini), were excommunicated, and, together with 
their sons and grandsons, formally deprived of all civic rights 
and legal protection, unless they appeared at Avignon by May 
30. Against this sentence, Donato Barbadori uttered an im- 
passioned and solemn protest, in the name of the Republic ; 
turning to the great Crucifix that hung opposite the papal throne, 
he appealed from the Sovereign Pontiff to Christ Himself: 
u Look upon me, O God of my salvation, and be Thou my 
helper ; do not Thou forsake me, for my father and my mother 
have forsaken me." l 

But, while these things were being done at Avignon, Catherine 
at Siena had a vision, in which it seemed to her that the Divine 
Bridegroom bade her, with the Cross on her shoulders and the 
olive-branch in her hand, intervene between the Church and 
her opponents ; — 

'* On the night of the first of April," she writes to Raimondo 
and his companions, ** God more specially revealed His secrets, 

1 Cf. Gherardi, of, cit., pp, 44-4*6, documents 198, 199 ; St. Antoninus, 
Chronkorum, II I. pp. 379-382. On April 5, Charles IV put Florence under the 
ban of the Empire ; but his previous exploits at Siena had taught the Florentines 
what his imperial threats were worth, 

164 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



manifesting His wondrous mysteries in such wise that my soul 
seemed not still to be in the body, and received such fulness of 
delight that no tongue can tell it ; for He explained and in part 
set forth the mystery of the persecution which Holy Church is 
now enduring, and of the renovation and exaltation which she is 
to have in the time to come, and said that the present time is 
permitted in order to restore her state to her. 1 And the first 
sweet Truth quoted two words that are in the Holy Gospel : // 
must needs be that offences come into the world ; hut zvoe to that man 
by whom the offence cometk ; as though to say : * I suffer this time 
of persecution in order to extirpate the thorns of My Spouse, for 
she is all full of brambles ; but I do not suffer the evil cogitations 
of men, Knowest thou what I am doing ? I am doing as I did 
when I was in the world, when I made the scourge of small cords, 
and cast out them that sold and bought in the Temple, not 
suffering that My Father's house should be made a den of thieves. 
So I tell thee I am doing now ; for I have made a scourge of 
creatures, and by that scourge I am casting out the merchants 
— impure, greedy, avaricious, and puffed-up with pride— who 
sell and buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit/ Thus I understood ' 
that He was casting them out by the scourge of human 
persecution ; that is, by means of tribulation and persecution, 
He would free them from their disordered and impure 
living. And, while the fire of holy desire increased within 
me, as I gazed, I saw the Christian people and the un- 
believers enter into the side of Christ crucified ; and I, by 
desire and the affection of love, passed through the midst of them, 
entering with them into Christ sweet Jesus, accompanied by my 
father St. Dominic, and my special John with all my children. 2 
Then He hid the Cross upon my neck and put the olive into my 
hand, even as though 1 wished it, and bade me offer them to one 
le and to the other ; and He said to me : *Say unto them : 



people 



1 Le* her primitive state of purity, not her temporal possessions. 

* Giovanni singular e con tutti quanti % figliuoti mitt. My translation is intended 
to suggest th.it "Giovanni singolare " is Fra Raimondo himself, who tells us that 
Catherine called him "John.*' Cf. Ltgtnda, Prologue [. (§ 6). 

165 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



I bring you tidings of great joy/ Then my soul was filled ; she 

was drowned with the truly blessed in the Divine Essence by 

union and affection of love, and so great was the delight that my 

soul possessed that she no longer beheld the past sorrow of seeing 

the offence against God, but said: *0 happy and fortunate 

fault. 1 " i 

11 In the light of this vision, a few days before Easter, which 

\|his year fell upon April 13, Catherine offered her services to 

'Ihe Republic of Florence as mediator between it and the Pope : 

*• remembering the word that our Saviour said to His disciples : 

With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I 

suffer" The passover which she would fain eat with the 

Florentines is that of peace and union with the Church, within 

whose body alone can they receive the paschal mysteries, the 

fruit of the blood of Christ and the heritage of eternal life. 

u You know well,*' she wrote, M that Christ left us His vicar 
for the cure of our souls ; for in nought else can we have 
salvation, save in the mystical body of Holy Church, whose 
head is Christ, and we are the limbs. And whoso is disobedient 
to Christ on earth, who holds the place of Christ in heaven, does 
not partake the fruit of the blood of the Son of God ; for God 
has decreed that this blood and all the sacraments of Holy 
Church, which receive life from this blood, should be com- 
municated and given to us through his hands. We cannot go 
by another way, nor enter by another gate ; for the first Truth 
said : / am the way t the truth, and the life" He who rebels 
against the Church is a rotten member, and what is done to 
His vicar on earth, be it reverence or insult, is done to Christ 
in heaven. <c Then, if God is at war with you, because of 
the injury you have done to our father and His vicar, 
I tell you that you are weakened ; for you have lost His 
aid. Let us grant that there are many who do not believe that 
they offend God in this, but think that they are offering Him a 

1 Letter 219 (87), amended by the Harlcian MS., from which we learn that 
Felice da Massa was one of those who accompanied Raimondo and Giovanni 
Tantucci to Avignon. 

166 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



sacrifice in persecuting the Church and her pastors, and who say 

in self-defence : ■ They are wicked, and do everything evil.* But 

I tell you that God wills, and has commanded so, that, even if the 

r* pastors and Christ on earth were incarnate demons (whereas the 

y latter is a good and benign father), we must be subject and 

j obedient to him, not for their sake for what they are, but to be 

I obedient to God because he is Christ's vicar.*' If only they will 

be reconciled with him, all Tuscany will have spiritual peace and 

repose, and the war will be turned against the infidels ; otherwise, 

* l you and all Tuscany will have the worst time that ever our 

ancestors had. Think not that God is sleeping over the injuries 

that have been done to His Spouse." Let them, then, eat this 

passover of peace and union in the body of the Church, where 

the food of the soul is found and the wedding-garment for the 

nuptials of eternal life. ** Pardon my presumption, and impute it 

to the love that I have for your salvation, both of soul and of 

body, and the grief that 1 have at the damage you are receiving, 

spiritually and temporally. And think that I had sooner say it 

you by word of mouth than by letter. If through me anything 

can be done for the honour of God, to unite you with Holy 

Church, I am ready to give my life, if it should be needed." 1 

Catherine had just received news from Raimondo at Avignon 
which filled her with peace and exultation. He had, like many 
others, probably been impressed by the mildness of the PontifFs 
reception, and had over-estimated his pacific disposition. u Rejoice, 
rejoice, and exult/* she writes in her paschal letter to the friar 
and his companions, " for the time is at hand when the spring 
will bring us sweet-smelling flowers. And do not wonder if you 
see the contrary coming, but be then more certain than ever. I 
would fain never rest until I see a knife pass through my throat * 
for the honour of God, so that my blood may remain sprinkled 
in the mystical body of Holy Church/ 1 And, in a postscript, she 
suggests, subject to Raimondo's approval, that Neri di Landoccio 

1 Letter 207 (198)* Capecelatro and Augusta Drane refer this letter to 
Catherine's second embassy to Florence, but Tommasco seems to me undoubtedly 
right in assigning it to this earlier occasion. 

167 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

should be sent to the papal court, u to work for the peace of 
those decayed members who have rebelled against Holy 
Church/* 1 

Neri could now be spared more readily from Catherine's side, 
as her spiritual family had just received a new member of the 
same kind, who soon became her chosen friend and best-loved 
disciple: Stefano di Corrado Maconi. Born in 1347, Stefano 
was of the same age as Catherine herself; his parents, Messer 
Corrado and Madonna Giovanna Bandinelli Maconi, belonged 
to conspicuous houses among the lesser nobility of Siena, a 
former member of the family having even found a place in 
the Inferno of the great Florentine* Young and gallant, 
educated to a degree presumably rare among the nobles of that 
day, Stefano was likewise distinguished for his sweetness and 
purity of character, although sharing to the full in the social life 
of his order and city. Through a dispute on a point of honour 
at some social gathering, the Maconi had become involved in a 
feud with the potent families of the Tolomei and Rinaldini, and 
Stefano had felt himself compelled in honour to lead the retainers 
of his own family. The Maconi would willingly have made peace, 
but, in spite of the intervention of many influential citizens, the 
Tolomei and Rinaldini would hear of no reconciliation. At length 
Stefano's pious mother, Giovanna Maconi, persuaded him to have 
recourse to Catherine, and a certain noble friend of theirs, Pietro 
Bellanti, who had himself been reconciled to a deadly foe by her 
means, offered to bring him to her, <c I visited her, therefore, 
and she received me, not like a bashful maiden as I expected, 
but with most loving charity, as though welcoming a brother on 
his return from distant regions* At this I was amazed, and 
listened to her efficacious and holy words by which she compelled, 
rather than induced me, to go to confession and to live 
virtuously. I said : ■ The finger of God is here.' And when she 
had heard the cause of my visit, she answered confidently : * Go, 
dearest son, and trust in the Lord, for I will gladly labour until 
you have an excellent peace ; and do you suffer me to take the 

1 Letter 226 (89). 
168 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



whole weight of this business upon my head/ " Stefano merely 
tells us that, by her means, they obtained peace in a miraculous 
fashion, even against the will of their adversaries ; but we owe 
to the pen of his Carthusian biographer the dramatic story of 
how, when Catherine had fixed the day for all the parties to 
meet at the church of San Cristoforo in the Piazza Tolomei, and 
Corrado and Stefano with their kinsmen came as arranged, the 
Tolomei and the Rinaldini, with a view of adding a fresh insult 
and rendering reconciliation impossible, did not appear. u They 
will not hear me," said Catherine, " but, when God speaks, they 
will have to lis ten. " As she prayed and was rapt in ecstasy 
before the altar, a mysterious force drew the Tolomei and the 
Rinaldini, each independently of the other, to the church ; a 
divine light irradiated the emaciated kneeling figure in the black 
and white habit ; and the factious nobles, seeing a sign from 
God, committed all the controversy into her hands, listened 
meekly to her words, and exchanged forgiveness and the kiss of 
friendship with those who, an hour before, had been their deadliest 
foes. 1 

While Catherine was engaged upon this reconciliation, Stefano 
frequently visited her, and sometimes, to his ineffable delight, she 
asked him to write letters for her at her dictation. Soon he 
became heart and soul hers, enkindled by the divine love that ever 
burned in her ; he exulted when he was made a mark for the jests 
of the city in consequence, and idlers shouted Caterinato after him 
as he passed through the streets. In return, Catherine loved him 
with so special an affection that, as he tells us, many of her other 
followers took it ill, and bore him a certain envy — among whom, 
however, Neri was not included, for, from the outset, he and 
Stefano had contracted an ardent friendship which was only to 
end with the former's death. Stefano now became, for a time, 

I the chief of Catherine's secretaries. " After a short while," he 
1 Eplstola Domnt Stephani, §*§ z, 3 ; Bartholomaeus Sencnsis, De Vita et Moriduj 
bcatt Sttphani Mauni, Lib. I. cap. 4-6. Bartholomaeus Sencnsis assigns the 
beginning of the feud to the year of pestilence, 1374, and Augusta Dranc, 
evidently rightly, supposes the reconciliation to have occurred early in 1376. 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

writes* "that most holy virgin said to me in secret: 'Know, 
most beloved son, that the greatest desire thou hast will soon be 
fulfilled/ At this I was astonished ; for I could think of nothing 
that I longed for in the world , while I was prepared to reject all 
that it could offer. Therefore I said : * O dearest mother, 
what Is the greatest desire that 1 have?' 'Look/ she said, 
'into thy heart/ And I answered her: * Certainly, most 
beloved mother> I can find no greater desire in myself than to keep 
always near you/ And she straightway replied : c And this 
will be/ But I could not comprehend the way in which this 
could suitably happen, considering our different conditions and 
position ; but He, to whom nothing is impossible, ordained in a 
wondrous way that she should go to Avignon to Gregory XI ; 
and so, albeit unworthy, I was accepted as one of this holy 
company, thinking it a little thing to leave parents, brothers, sisters, 
and kindred, and deeming myself blessed in the enjoyment of the 
presence and familiar friendship of the virgin Catherine/ 1 l 

It was probably from Florence that Neri di Landoccio started 
for Avignon. " To thee, most beloved and dearest son in Christ 
sweet Jesus,*' Catherine wrote to him, while he was waiting at 
Pisa for the ship that was to take him to Marseilles, " I write in 
His precious blood, with the desire of seeing thee united and 
transformed in the fire of most burning charity, so that thou 
rnayest be a vessel of love to carry the name and the word of 
God, with His great mysteries, into the presence of our sweet 
Christ on earth, and mayest bear fruit by inflaming his desire/ 1 
He was the bearer of a letter imploring the Pope to imitate 
Christ, the Good Shepherd, in his dealings with the rebels, to 
make peace with them, and devote his powers to the reformation 
of the Church* * l I beseech you, reverend father, to give and 



1 Eftst. at**, §§4, 5, 9. Bartholomacus Sencnsis, op. i&, Lib. V. cap. t, tells a 
curious story of how Stcfano, after joining Catherine's family, was led into 
attending a secret meeting against the government in the vaults under the 
Spcdale, in which several of the aristocratic members of the confraternity of 
Our Lady's dUciphnatl were involved, and of the penance which he inflicted upon 
himself at her bidding for the seditious words that he had uttered. 

170 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 

grant what Neri, the bearer of this letter, will ask you, if it is 
possible to you and according to your will* I beseech you to 
give him audience, and believe what he will tell you. And 
because sometimes it is impossible to write what one would wish, 
I add, if you want to send to tell me something secret, tell him 
by word of mouth with confidence (for you can) whatever can be 
accomplished by me. If it were necessary to give my life, 1 
would gladly give it for the honour of God and for the salvation 
ot souls. " l i 

Catherine's appeal had reached the Florentines in an auspicious' 
moment. Although Niccolo Sodenni was no longer in the 
government, the Signoria that held office for March and April 
contained at least one moderate man : Buonaccorso di Lapo 
Giovanni. The need was pressing.; papal envoys from Avignon 
had been sent in all directions, ordering every sovereign andv 
commonwealth to break off relations with the Florentines and \ 
expel them from their dominions, and many States had obeyed ; J 
papal galleys were intercepting Florentine ships, and making 
booty of their merchandise ; the Breton mercenaries were quickly 
gathering together. Catherine's offer of mediation was accepted, 
and, at the beginning of May, accompanied by Stefano Maconi, 
Fra Bartolommeo di Domenico, and her usual company of men 
and women, she came to Florence* The new Signoria was less 
pacifically inclined than its predecessor, and included Giovanni 
Dini, one of the Eight. Nevertheless, the Priors came out of 
the gate of the city to meet her, and besought her to go on their 
behalf to Avignon, to secure at least a favourable hearing for the 
ambassadors they were about to send. 

During the few weeks that Catherine now stayed in Florence, 
while the diplomatic arrangements were being made, she put 
herself in touch with every class in the State, and made spiritual 
disciples in every direction. She was already acquainted w r ith 
Messcr Angelo Ricasoli, the luke-warm, time-serving bishop, 
and with Niccolo Soderini, the upright and devout republican ; 
possibly also with Carlo Strozzi, a wealthy burgher of the Parte 
1 Letters 228 (278) and 218 (3). 
171 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Guelfa, whose wife Laudamia was one of her correspondents, 
Buonaccorso di I.apo Giovanni seems to have been her chief link 
with the popular side. The family of the Canigiani (kinsmen of 
Petrarcas mother, Eletta Canigiani) became especially devoted 
to her. The head of the family, Piero di Donato Canigiani, 
and his son, Messer Kistoro (a learned lawyer), were men of 
great character and personality, wealthy and influential burghers, 
leading spirits in the counsels of the Parte Guelfa, A younger 
brother of Ristoro, Barduccio di Piero Canigiani, although little 
more than a boy, had devoted himself to a religious life and was 
one of the " adopted sons " of Don Giovanni dalle Celle. Among 
the lower orders, a tailor , Francesco di Pippino, and his wife, 
Monna Agnese, were Catherine's ardent disciples. Francesco 
does not seem to have been by birth a Florentine, but a native 
of San Miniato al Tedesco, who had settled in the capital and 
probably become a Florentine citizen. In spite of his humble 
position, he was a man of some importance among all in Florence 
who looked for righteousness ; and in later years, in his own 
unobtrusive way, he made his little house near the Piazza del 
Grano, in the quarter of Santa Croce, a centre of religious life 
in the city. With them were closely bound in ties of friendship 
a high-born couple, Bartolo Usimbardi and his wife, Monna 
Orsa, who likewise took Catherine as their supreme guide in 
the spiritual life. 

Although vigorously continuing the campaign against the 
papal officials in Italy, the Florentines were prepared to yield to 
the Pope's authority in spiritual matters, and obeyed the interdict. 
"To-day," writes a contemporary, "on the eleventh day of 
May, 1376, they left off singing the Mass in the city and 
contado of Florence, and no longer celebrated the Body of 
Christ to us, citizens and contadini. But we see Him with our 
hearts, and God knoweth that we are not Saracens nor pagans, 
but are and shall remain true Christians, the elect of God," l 
Another tells us how a passion of devotion swept over the 
citizens, who found themselves thus for secular reasons deprived 
1 Diana d y Antmmo Ttortntino, p. 308. 

172 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



ot the supreme consolation of their religion : Lo pan die il pio 
padre a nessun serra. Men and women thronged the churches 
to sing psalms and hymns ; incessant processions were made 
through the streets, bearing relics of the saints ; as many as 
five thousand flagellants passed along, scourging their bare 
shoulders, while twenty thousand persons followed ; the com- 
mandments of the Church were kept as they had never been 
before, and for every one that practised his religion when the 
Mass was said, there were now a hundred. A number of noble 
and wealthy young men formed a confraternity which met at 
Fiesole, devoting themselves to austerity and works of charity, 
especially labouring to convert fallen women, whom they 
clothed and provided with means to live an honest life ; others 
gave up everything, and went about begging alms for the poor : 
u And this matter was so spread abroad that it seemed verily 
that they wished to conquer the Pope by humility, and to be 
obedient to the Church/* l The government looked with great 
suspicion upon this movement, but took no active steps to check 
it. There was simultaneously a recrudescence of activity among 
the Fraticelli, those fraii della povera vita, who held that the 
condemnation of poverty by John XXII had been "the con- 
demnation of the life of Christ," and that neither he nor his 
successors were lawful popes. Poverty being the law of Christ, 
the Court of Avignon was the devil's synagogue. The sacra- 
ments were invalid if administered by an unworthy priest. 2 
Numbers of Florentines, men and women, began to affect their 
doctrines, especially now that they seemed justified by the 
attitude of the papal court towards the Italians. 

The fact was that, at this stage in the conflict, all Florence 
was united against the Pope ; adherents of the Parte Guelfa 
were agreed with those of the Otto della Guerra that the 
Republic must defend her rights and liberties. Men like 
Don Giovanni dalle Celle had no doubt as to where the 
duties of every citizen lay, " I have heard news of thee 

1 Marchionnc Stcfani, Lib. IX, rubr. 757. Cf. Dante, Par. xviiL 127-129, 
* Cf. Tocco, / Fratirf/Zi, pp, 341-353* 

173 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



/ 



for this holy Easter, 1 ' he wrote to Guido dal Palagio, shortly 
before Catherine's arrival in Florence, "and I have heard that 
thou art compelled to take certain offices of the Commune, for 
which matter I believe that questions often arise in thy heart, 
because of the war which you have with the Holy Father, 
But thou hast no need to doubt, as long as thou directest thy 
intentions first to the honour of God, and then to the good 
state of thy city ; it is lawful for thee to aid her and defend 
her and counsel her, so that she may never fall into the hands 
of her enemies. If thou payest the loan, let not thy intention 
be to act against the Pope, but to defend thy country, and with 
this holy intention thou canst pass through all the offices of 
the Commune without mortal sin. Excommunications are made 
for those who sin mortally, and therefore hold for certain that 
no innocent man can be excommunicated ; and if, nevertheless, 
thou wert excommunicated, it would not be valid in the sight of 
God, who only confirms the sentence of pastors who bind and 
loose jusdy, with lawful cause. Only, thou must beware of 
giving advice or voting that the Pope, or any other cleric or 
religious, should be taken or slain. I should have said much 
to thee on this matter, did I not fear lest my letter should come 
into the hands of those who care little for the good state of that 
city/* l But he was equally emphatic by word and letter against 
the Fraticelli, and prepared to defend the whole hierarchy of the 
Church against them. '* What matters it to thee," he wrote to 
a Florentine artisan who had joined them, " whether Christ was 
poor or rich, as long as thou believest that He is thy Saviour, 
thy Redeemer, thy Food, the price of thy Redemption, and thy 
Reward ? I certainly believe that Christ was poor, and I would 
go through the fire for this, saving always all that our holy 
mother, the Catholic and Apostolic Church, holds." 2 Like 
Birgitta before him, the monk had profoundly mistrusted the 
papal designs for a Crusade. u If thou hast Christ in the 
Sacrament of the Altar," he wrote to a young nun named 

1 Letter in Tocco, / Fratice//i t p. 348, 

* Wcs3clo%, // Paradiso dtgli Alhertl % I. doc. 14. 

174 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 



Domitilla, who had taken Catherine's exhortations as meaning 
that she, too, was to go to the Holy Sepulchre, u even as He 
came forth from the womb of the Virgin Mary and as He hung 
upon the Cross, why wouldst thou abandon Him to go to see 
a stone ? M This led to a correspondence with William Flete, 
who supposed that he had attacked Catherine herself, with the 
result that Don Giovanni, a little later, formally joined her 
spiritual fellowship, " It will be glorious for me/ 1 he wrote, 
u to be called a heretic with her, that, even as Christ who was 
reputed a heretic by the Pharisees because He made Himself 
the Son of God, I may bear the cross of His passion. O most 
sweet heresy of celestial Catherine, who makes t just men out 
of sinners, and, the friend of publicans and sinners, dost make 
the Angels smile and heaven rejoice ! §1 1 

In the meanwhile, the Florentines continued to foment the 
rebellion in the Papal States, and even put a price upon the 
head of Gomez Albornoz, who was making a valiant defence 
of the citadel of Ascoli. Nor was the papal court resting on 
its arms. On May 27, the company of Bretons, six thousand 
foot and four thousand horse, under the Cardinal Robert of 
Geneva, left Avignon, with orders to march straight upon 
Florence. They boasted that, if the sun entered Florence, they 
would, and that they would make the Pope's brother, the Vicomte 
de Turenne, lord of the city. 

It must always remain a question whether the sending of 
Catherine to Avignon was the result of a temporary victory of 
Niccolo Soderini and the peace party in the counsels of the 
Republic, or a mere device on the part of the others to gain time. 
The Florentine archives apparently hold no record of the matter,/ 
and we can only gather what happened from Catherine's own 

1 Letter € del B» Giovanni dalle Celle, 19, with which compare Catherine's letter 
to Mcnna Pavob, 144 (371}. Don Giovanni's letters to William Flete 
(together with a third, defending Catherine against the Augustinian, Giovanni 
da Salerno) are given by Gigli at the end of the Opere, vol* ii. pp. 985-997. 
They are included, with chrce others and a letter from William to Raimondo, 
in the Palatine MS. 60. 

"75 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



letter to Buonaccorso di Lapo Giovanni. According to this, the 
Sigtioria and the Eight had assured her that they were repentant 
for having gone against the Church, and ready to throw them- 
selves on the Pope's mercy. " See, my lords/ 1 she said, ■' if you 
really intend to use all humility in deed as well as word, and 
that I should offer you up before your father like sons that 
were dead, I will labour in this to the utmost of your wish. 
In no other wise would I go," They declared emphatically 
that this was their intention, and that they would instruct the 
ambassadors, whom they were going to send after her, to confer 
with her about everything. u We do not believe/ 1 said one of 
those present, apparently Buonaccorso himself, M that this peace 
can ever be brought about, save by the hands of the servants of 
God." 2 Upon this understanding, in the latter part of May, 
Catherine accepted the mission. " It seems to me," she wrote 
to the Pope, "that the Divine Goodness is making the great 
wolves become lambs, I am now coming to you at once, to lay 
them humbled in your lap. I am certain that you will receive 
them like a father, notwithstanding the way they have injured 
and persecuted you ; learning from the sweet first Truth who 
says that the Good Shepherd, when He has found the sheep 
that was lost, takes it upon His shoulders and brings it back to 
the fold. So will you do, father ; now that your lost sheep is 
found again, you will take it on the shoulder of love, and put it 
into the sheepfold of Holy Church. Then, at once, our sweet 
Saviour wills and commands you to raise the banner of the most 
holy Cross against the infidels, and that the whole war should be 
turned against them. Keep back the soldiers whom you have 
hired to come hither, and do not suffer them to come ; for they 
would ruin everything, rather than put it straight, My sweet 
father, you ask me about your coming ; and I answer and tell 
you, in the name of Christ crucified, that you must come as soon 
as you can. If you can do so, come before September ; and, if 
vou cannot come before, do not delay longer than until September 









1 Letter 234 (215). Cf. below, p. 191, 
176 



BETWEEN FLORENCE AND AVIGNON 

And do not consider any opposition that you may meet ; but 
come, like a virile man and without any fear. But take heed, as 
you value your life, not to come with armed men, but with the 
Cross in your hand, like a meek lamb. If you do so, you will 
fulfil the will of God ; but, if you came in another wise, you 
would not fulfil, but transgress it. Rejoice, father, and exult ; 
come, come/* l 

1 Letter 229 (6). 



12 177 



CHAPTER IX 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 

** Nov! expertui ut nulla ibl pietas, nulla camas, nulla fides, nulla Dei reverentia, nultui 
timor, nihil tancti, nihil iusti, nihil aequi, nihil penii, nihil denique vel human!. Amor, 
pudor, decor, candor inde exulant."— Petrarca, £pht. tint titufo, XVI. 

Catherine started from Florence towards the end of May. 
She was accompanied by Fra Bartolommeo di Domentco, Stefano 
Maconi, Gherardo Buonconti with his brothers, Tommaso and 
Francesco, and a number of other disciples ; Alessa, Cecca, and 
Lisa were also of the party. No details have been preserved of 
the journey , and it is even uncertain what course they took. A 
local tradition speaks of Catherine passing through Bologna, while 
a passage in a letter from Giovanni dalle Celle to Fra Giovanni 
da Salerno seems to show her on her way along the Riviera. In 
any case, we know from one of her own letters that she reached 
Avignon on June 18, 1376, 

Into this Babylon of the West, the mystical bride of Christ 
and her companions came as messengers from another world. 
Avignon had altered but little since Petrarca had invoked the 
fire from heaven to fall upon it. "I know by experience," 
he wrote, " that there is no piety there, no charity, no faith, no 
reverence for God nor any fear of Him, nothing holy, nothing 
just, nothing worthy of man. Love, purity, decency, candour 
are banished from it. All things are full of lies and hypocrisy. 
The voices of angels conceal the designs of demons.'* l The only 
change for the better since Petrarca wrote these words was that, 
instead of a strong pontiff, enslaved to vice and luxury, there 
now sat on the papal throne a weak Pope, who, in his sincere but 
ineffectual way, looked for righteousness. 

Two days after her arrival, the Pope admitted Catherine to 
what appears to have been a private audience, only Fra Raimondo 

1 EpuL dm tittilo, XVI. 

178 






FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 






being present, Gregory knew no Italian and Catherine no Latin, 
the friar acting as their interpreter. In spite of the correspondence 
that had passed between them, the Pope had been prejudiced 
against her ; but he was unable, now that he saw her face to face, 
to withstand the magic of her personality. u In order that thou 
mayest see clearly,' 1 he said, " that I desire peace, I put the 
matter entirely into thy hands ; only be careful for the honour of 
the Church/ 1 He assigned to her what Stefano Maconi calls " a 
fine house with a beautifully decorated chapel/* where, for the three 
months that she stayed in Avignon, he lodged and supported her 
whole household at his own expense. 1 

But the Florentine ambassadors did not appear, and rumours 
reached the court — rumours greedily accepted and spread abroad 
by the prelates of the Curia — that new and oppressive taxes were 
being imposed upon the clergy at Florence. The three ambassadors 
— Pazzino Strozzi, Alessandro dell* Antella, and Michele 
Castellani — had been nominated in May, and their coming 
formally notified to the Pope. Their original commission had 
reference only to getting the ecclesiastical censures removed, but 
this had been extended, at the advice of Bernabo Visconti, to 
include the whole question of peace. 2 Nevertheless, the counsels 
of the Signoria were divided, and at least some of the Eight were 
unwilling to come to terms with the Church until the whole of her 
temporal power was completely destroyed. The matter lingered 
on in this way through all June. Catherine, who had understood 
that the ambassadors were to follow her immediately, with full 
powers to confer with her and arrange terms with the Pope 
through her, and that, in the meanwhile, all hostilities on the part 
of the Florentines would be suspended, was amazed and in- 
dignant. M Believe me, Catherine/* said the Pope, u they 
have deceived and will deceive thee ; they will not send the 
ambassadors, or, if they do, it will be such a mission that it will 
amount to nothing.'* Already a fresh process was preparing 

1 Legends, III. vi. 26 (§ 4.20) ; Processus, col. 1 337 ; Ephtoh Domni Sttphani, 

§ M. 

3 Gherardi, of. at., doc*. 221, 228. 

179 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



against them, threatening them with the most fearful spiritual 
and temporal penalties, including the papal anathema and the 
proclamation of a crusade against them throughout the entire 
world. On their part, the Florentines were preparing vigorously 
to push on the campaign, alike against Albornoz in the Marches 
and against the Cardinal of Geneva, who was daily expected in 
the Bolognese. 

To the Eight, on June 28, Catherine wrote an emphatic 
letter, beseeching them not to turn back, but to approach the 
Pope with true humility of heart, " imploring life like the son that 
was dead/' She complains strongly of the new tax upon the clergy, 
if it is true that they have imposed it, as calculated to alienate those 
of the cardinals who desire peace and still further to inflame the 
anger of the Pope against them. " I tell you, dearest fathers, 
and pray you not to impede the grace of the Holy Spirit, which, 
albeit you do not merit it, our sweet Christ on earth is disposed 
in his clemency to give you. And you would be putting me to 
shame and reproach. For what save shame and confusion could 
result, if I tell him one thing and you do quite another ? I 
beseech you not to let it happen again* Nay, strive in word and 
deed to show that you desire peace and not war. I have spoken 
to the Holy Father. He listened to me graciously, through God's 
goodness and his own, and showed himself lovingly affected 
towards peace, acting like a good father in not so much con- 
sidering the offence that his son has committed against him as 
whether he has become humble, so that he may be able to pardon 
him completely. My tongue could not tell how singularly glad 
he was. After I had talked with him for a good space of time, 
he said at the end of our conversation that, if what I had laid 
before him concerning you were so, he was ready to receive you 
as his children, and to do in this matter what I should think 
right. It did not seem to the Holy Father that he should give 
any more definite answer, until your ambassadors arrive. I ani 
amazed that they have not yet come. As soon as they arrive, I 
shall be with them, and shall then go to the Holy Father ; and I 
will write to you according to how I find the matter proceeding. 

180 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 

But you, with your levies and changes, are spoiling what I am 
sowing. Do no more so, for the love of Christ crucified and for 
your own advantage." l 

The three ambassadors had probably already started when this 
letter reached Florence, A new Signoria entered office on the 
first day of July, and had decided to despatch the three citizens 
named as syndics, " to make truce or peace with the Pope, or with 
his commissary, upon what conditions they shall think fit." 
Their decision was confirmed in the Council of the Captain and 
People on July 4, and in the Council of the Podesta and Com- 
mune on July 5 ; and, on July 7, the Signoria wrote to Cardinals 
Orsini and Corsini, calling God to witness that they had only 
acted to defend their own liberty, asking them to use their 
influence with the Pope on behalf of their ambassadors, to whom 
they would shortly send the mandate for peace. 2 As soon as 
they arrived at Avignon, Catherine sent to bid the three come to 
her, and, in the presence of Fra Raimondo, reminded them of 
what the preceding Signoria had promised her ; she told them 
that the Pope had put the peace into her hands, and that they 
could have good terms if they desired it. The ambassadors 
brusquely answered that they had no commission to confer with 
her, nor to make the acts of submission she suggested, 3 No 
shadow of resentment or personal mortification seems to have 
entered Catherine's mind at finding herself thus discarded ; 
although bitterly disappointed at what she probably regarded as 
the perfidy of the Republic, she continued to beseech the Pope to 
deal with them mildly, acting not as a judge but as a father. 

Nevertheless, the Florentines were probably in earnest. 
The Mantuan representative at the papal court, Cristoforo da 
Piacenza, writing to his master, Lodovico Gonzaga, on July 17, 
tells him of the arrival of the ambassadors, and that they are 
very desirous of peace. They have not been able to see the 
Pope, but have visited the cardinals, and are expecting a formal 

1 Letter 230 (197) ; in the Harlcian MS. 

* Ghcrardi, of>. */>,, docs. 273, 274 ; Diark tTAnomm* Florentine p* 309. 

* Legnuhy III. v i . 27 (§ 421). 

l8l 



^■H 



M 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



audience. Three ambassadors from Pisa (including Benedetto 
Gambacorti, one of Piero's sons), and two from Lucca, had 
previously come to beseech the Pope to make peace with the 
Florentines. The Pisans had effected nothing ; but to the 
ambassadors of Lucca, who had protested that the Lucchcse 
had never forgotten how the Church had delivered them from 
the hands of Pharaoh, the Pope returned a most gracious answer. 
He said he loved their city, and was convinced that they had 
only entered the league under compulsion ; but he could see 
no possibility of peace between the Church and the Florentines, 
as they had not power to restore the cities and towns that they 
had induced to rebel against her, nor to indemnify her for all 
she had lost and suffered ; the vicar of Christ was bound to 
have peace with the contrite of heart alone, and not to encourage 
sinners in their sins. 1 Nevertheless, yielding probably to the 
united appeals of Catherine and the ambassadors of Lucca, 
Gregory ultimately delegated two cardinals, Pierre d'Estaing 
and Gilles Aycelin de Montaigu, to treat with the Florentine 
ambassadors. 

But Catherine felt that her mission was a higher one than 
that she had received from Florence. Disavowed by the Eight, 
she was still in Avignon as the ambassador of Christ, to bid the 
Pope return to Rome and reform the Church, She continued 
at the same time to urge on what she regarded as the holy and 
pacific work of the Crusade. When his first prejudices were 
overcome, Gregory heard her gladly — the faithful Raimondo 
always acting as interpreter. In one of their first interviews, 
Catherine spoke her mind concerning the shameful vices of the 
Roman Curia, and the Pope, after a feeble attempt to rebuke 
her, listened in silence, and made no comment at the end, though 
Raimondo was amazed at the boldness and authority with 
which she had spoken* On another occasion, Gregory questioned 
her about his return to Rome. w It is not meet," she answered, 
H that a wretched little woman should give advice to the 

1 Despatch dated Avignon, July 17. Oslo, I. doc. 124. It is curious that 
the writer should make 110 mention of Cuhcxine. 

182 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 



Sovereign Pontiff-." And the Pope : <c I do not ask you for 
advice, but to tell me the will of God in this matter." And, 
while she still made excuses, he charged her on her obedience, 
to say if she knew anything of the will of God in this affair. 
44 Then she, humbly bowing down her head, said : * Who 
knoweth this better than your Holiness, who vowed to God that 
you would do this thing ? ' When he heard this, he was over- 
whelmed with amazement, for, as he said, no living man save 
himself knew that he had made this vow." 1 

There were the usual petty persecutions and trials, for all 
the corrupt members of the papal court and their dependants 
were naturally against her. Soon after her arrival, three pre- 
lates of the Curia came to Catherine, and made a prolonged 
attempt to ensnare her in her speech, hoping apparently to 
discredit her growing influence with the Pope by convicting 
her of having come under false pretences as ambassador for 
Florence, or <jf heresy in the doctrines she professed. Foiled 
in their object, they candidly reported to the Pope that they had 
never found a soul so humble and so illumined ; but the 
attempt, especially with a view to an accusation of heresy, had 
been a serious one. ** I can tell you," said the Pope's physician, 
Francesco Casini, to Stefano Maconi, a that, if they had not found 
this virgin Catherine had a solid foundation, she would never 
have made a more unfortunate voyage." 2 This Francesco di 
Bartolommeo Casini, a Sienese by birth, who had been one of 
Petrarca's friends and correspondents, now attached himself to 
Catherine's circle ; a man of great reputation in his own art 
and of considerable influence m the papal court, his friend- 
ship stood the whole fellowship in good stead. Another 
influential person who conceived a great affection and devotion 
for Catherine was the Pope's sister, the Countess of Valentinois, 
who expressed a desire to be present when she received 
Communion. Coming one Sunday morning, at Raimondo's 

1 Le%enda f II, iv. 7 {§152); Processus, col 132$. Gregory during ihe 
conclave had made a vow that, if elected Pope, he would return to Rome. 
* Eplstok Domni Stephant t §§ 22-24. 

■83 



v 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

invitation, to her house for this purpose, she brought with her 
amongst others the young wife of the Pope's nephew, Dame 
Elys de Turenne. After Mass, while Catherine was rapt in 
ecstasy, this young woman thought she was feigning, and, under 
pretence of kissing her feet, leant over and stabbed them through 
and through with a needle, or some other sharp instrument. 
Catherine remained insensible and motionless ; but, when she 
came to herself, she suffered such great pain from the wounds that 
she was scarcely able to walk, and her companions then, for the 
first time, perceived what had been done, 1 On another occasion, 
the mistress of one of the cardinals, either to gratify her 
curiosity or to test the Saint's intuition, insisted upon speaking 
with her, and made a great show of being a person of spiritual 
life ; but Catherine resolutely kept her -face averted from her, and 
the unfortunate woman had to depart without even seeing her 
features. 

We have, rather curiously, no record or tradition of Catherine 
coming into contact with any of the French cardinals, though, 
doubtless, she made the acquaintance personally of d'Estaing, 
whom she had previously known by letter. Perhaps, from the 
outset, she foresaw that the time would soon come for her to 
class all the rest together as dimoni incamatu The political 
situation would have led her into direct intercourse with two of 
the Italians, Jacopo Orsini and Piero Corsini, the former of 
whom was the official protector (salaried by the Republic) of 
Siena at the papal court. Almost certainly, too, she met, and 
was doubtfully impressed by, the Cardinal of Aragon, Pedro de 
Luna, in whom the " servants of God " (to adopt the quaintly 
expressive phraseology of the age) put great hopes. We are 
told also of another prelate, not a cardinal, who at first opposed 
her, but was ultimately won over to her side — one who was to 
play a pre-eminent part in the drama of her latest days, 



1 Eptstola Domni Stephani, § II. Fra Bartolommco, Processus, col. 1327, says 
that the injuries inflicted were more serious than Stefano describes, and that 
Catherine suffered much in consequence for many days. 

184 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 



Bartolommeo Pngnano, then Archbishop of Acerenza, and 
assistant to the Vice-Chancellor of the Holy See, 

In the meanwhile, Gregory was ostensibly pushing on the 
preparations for his journey to Italy; but the most careful 
observers doubted whether he would have the strength of mind 
to overcome the obstacles that confronted him. In his despatch 
of July 17, Cristoforo da Piacenza informed Lodovico Gonzaga 
that a number of the papal officials had already started, and that 
Francesco Orsirii was on the way to Rome to acquaint the 
Romans with the Pope's intentions, and to bid the feudatories ot 
the Church be ready to meet his Holiness with fitting reverence 
at some port near Rome on September 20, cc Nevertheless, he 
is finding great obstacles to his setting out, for all the cardinals 
of this nation are against it, as also his own father and brothers, 
and I hear that the Duke of Anjou is coming to prevent his 
moving, if he can. I know not what to say. I see many signs 
that point to his going ; for the Lord Otho has already come 
with seven galleys and seven smaller ships, which are now at 
Marseilles. I hear that the galley belonging to the Commune 
of Ancona, upon which the Pope is to travel, is at present at 
Marseilles." l 

Louis, Duke of Anjou, brother of the French king, an 
ambitious and unstable prince, arrived at the papal court, and 
found Catherine in possession of the Pope's mind. Gregory 
told him that, at all costs, in spite of his love for his native 
land, he was compelled, in the interests of the Church of God, 
to return to Rome. Either because his heart was really touched 
or because he hoped to use her influence for his own ends, 
Louis persuaded Catherine to come with him from Avignon to 
his castle of Villeneuve, to console his wife with her ministrations. 
Catherine stayed three days at Villeneuve, and so inflamed the 
Duke with ardour for the Crusade that he promised that, if the 
Pope called upon him to do so, he would himself raise an army 
and lead it across the seas at his own expense. He besought 

1 Osio, I. doc. 124. Otho of Brunswick was the fourth husband of the 
Queen of Naples, 

185 



b^ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



/> 



^ 



*s 



her to go with him to the King of Prance. When she humbly 
refused, he induced her to write to the King the eloquent letter 
we still possess, urging him to reform his kingdom, no longer to 
let his wars with England hinder the redemption of the Holy 
Land, but to make peace and enable the Duke to carry out his 
holy purpose, 1 She wrote at the same time exultantly to the 
Pope that at last God had sent the means to begin " the holy 
passage/* as they had found a prince who would be a good 
head. But God bids him undertake another crusade as well ; 
to raise the standard of the Cross against the corrupt and 
wicked ecclesiastics, and provide the Church with good pastors 
and rulers instead. 2 A little later, after her return to Avignon, 
hearing that Louis had narrowly escaped death through the fall 
of a wall at a banquet, Catherine wrote exhorting him to bear 
what had happened ever in his memory as a sign from God of 
the vanity of earthly pleasure, to keep his heart and desire fixed 
and nailed to the Cross, and formally to take the Cross in the 
presence of the Pope before the latter set out. 3 But already 
the Duke's resolution and aspirations were fading away, and 
his subsequent career, had Catherine lived to see it, would have 
seemed to her the betrayal of all the hopes she had set on him. 

Catherine had returned to Avignon to enter into a desperate 
struggle with the French cardinals for the soul of the Pope. 
In spite of his preparations, Gregory was wavering, ** Tell him," 
Christ had seemed to say in her heart when he asked for a sign, 
" that I give him this excellent sign that it is My will that he 
should go : the more his going is opposed and contradicted, the 
more will he feel such a strength increasing in him as no man 
will be able to take from him ; which is contrary to his usual 
way/* 4 In the Sacred College, Cardinal d'Estaing, alone among 
his countrymen, was supporting the Pope in his preparations ; 
Orsini, Corsini, and Pedro de Luna were neutral ; but the rest 
were emphatically opposed to the move, and the whole influence 
of the King of France was at their back. 

1 Processus, col. 1337 ; Letter 235 (186). 2 Letter 238 (9), 

s Letter 237 {190). 4 Letter 238 (9). 

186 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 



It would seem that the Pope was too much afraid of these 
latter any longer openly to admit Catherine to his presence ; 
communications between them were now, for a while, confined to 
messengers and letters. Once the Pope sent her a short note, 
saying that the cardinals alleged that Pope Clement IV undertook 
nothing without the counsels of the Sacred College, and always 
followed their advice, even if his own opinion was different. 
i( Alas, most holy Father,*' she answered, " these men quote 
Pope Clement IV to you, but they tell you nothing about Pope 
Urban V, who asked their advice about things, when he was in 
doubt whether it was better to do them or not ; but when a 
thing was absolutely clear to him, as your going is to you (about 
which you are certain), he took no heed of their counsel, but 
followed his own, and did not care although they were all against 
him. Follow the counsel of those who think of the honour of 
God, the salvation of souls, and the reformation of Holy Church, 
not that of men who only love their own lives, honours, states, 
and pleasures, I beseech your Holiness, in the name of Christ 
crucified, to make haste. Adopt a holy deception ; let it seem 
that you are going to delay for a time, and then do it swiftly and 
suddenly, for, the more quickly it is done, the sooner will you be 
freed from these torments and troubles. Once before they made 
you fall into their snares, when you delayed your coming, snares 
which the demon had spread in order that the loss and evil should 
result which has resulted. You, like a wise man, inspired by the 
Holy Spirit, will not fall into them again." 1 Then Gregory 
bade Raimondo tell her to pray to God for light to see whether 
lie would meet with any obstacle. She answered that she had 
already prayed, before and after Communion, and she saw no 
danger of any kind in the way, "I have prayed, and will pray 
our sw r eet and good Jesus that He may take away all servile fear 
from you, and that only holy fear may remain. May there be in 

1 Letter 231 (7). A Latin translation of this letter, probably what Raimondo 
actually procntcd to the Pope, ts in the Palatine MS. 59 ; but there is not the 
slightest foundation for Augusta Dranc's statement (I, p. 378 » .) that all the 
letters which Catherine wrote to Gregory at Avignon "arc in Latin, not Italian. 

187 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



you such an ardour of charity as will not let you hear the voices 
of those incarnate demons, nor follow the counsel of those 
perverse counsellors founded in self-love* who, as I understand, 
are trying to frighten you and so prevent your coming, by saying 
that you will be slain. And I tell you in the name of Christ 
crucified, sweetest and most holy Father, that you have absolutely 
no cause for fear. Come with confidence ; trust in Christ sweet 
Jesus ; for, if you do what you ought, God will be with you and 
there will be no one against you. Up, manfully, Father ! For 
I tell you, you have no need to fear. If you did not do what 
you are bound to do, you would have need to fear. You are 
bound to come : come then I Come, sweetly, without any fear. 
And if any of your household strive to impede you, say to them 
boldly what Christ said to Peter, when, through tenderness, he 
sought to draw Him back from going to His passion : Get thee 
behind m<?, Satan : thou art an offence unto Me ; for thou savour est not 
the things that be of God^ but those that be of men." l 

The beautiful prayer that Catherine offered on this occasion 
was taken down by Tommaso Petra, an Italian protonotary 
attached to the papal court, who became one of her disciples, and 
was afterwards secretary to Gregory's successor, and has thus 
been preserved to us, M O supreme and ineffable Deity, she 
prayed at the end, M l have sinned and am not worthy to pray to 
Thee, but Thou hast power to make me worthy ; punish my 
sins, O Lord, and consider not my miseries. I have one body, 
which I offer up to Thee ; here is my flesh, here is my blood ; 
let my veins be emptied, my body destroyed, my bones scattered, 
for those for whom 1 pray to Thee ; if it is Thy will, let all my 
frame be ground up for Thy vicar upon earth, the bridegroom 
of Thy Spouse, for whom I pray Thee to deign to hear me, that 
he, Thy vicar, may consider Thy will, may love and fulfil it, so 
that we may not perish. Give him a new heart, that he may 

1 Letter 233 (8). She had previously written to him : "God has given you 
authority and you have taken it 1 you are bound to use your strength and power ; 
and, it you do not wish to use it, it would be more to God's honour and your 
soul's salvation to resign what you have taken/' Letter 255 (13) ; Harleian MS. 

188 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 



continually grow in grace, strong to uplift the banner of the 
most holy Cross." l 

From the outset, the Florentines had pushed on the war — asj 
indeed, they were compelled to do in the face of the coming of 
the Bretons. Rodolfo Varano, Lord of Camerino, a feudatory of 
the Church, had been appointed captain-general of the League, 
and despatched to Bologna. Bartolommeo di Smeduccio had 
likewise been taken into the service of the Republic, and had had 
the campaign in the Marches committed to him. Bartolommeo 
was a personal enemy of Rodolfo's, and the two would not work 
in harmony ; but he bore a more deadly hatred towards Gomez 
Albornoz, who had attempted to deprive him of San Severino by 
treachery, and he could be trusted to use all his power for the 
reduction of the citadel of Ascoii. The Bretons had arrived at 
Borgo di Panicale in the Bolognese contado on July 12, had 
taken and sacked Crespolano, and were ravaging all the country 
round with fire and sword — the Cardinal of Geneva urging them 
on and applauding their worst excesses. Rodolfo, though at the 
head of a powerful force, contented himself with holding Bologna, 
and made no serious efforts to take the field against them. 
Elsewhere, the Florentines were feeling the heavy weight of the 
papal censures. The expulsion of their merchants and the 
imprisonment of their other citizens at Avignon had cut them off 
from their profitable commerce with Provence and the papal 
court* Although France, Spain, and England did not carry out 
the papal decrees to the letter, enough was done in the first two 
countries to inflict immense damage upon the commerce of the 
Republic, and expelled Florentine merchants returned to the city 
from all parts of the world. 2 The Pisans refused to take any 
active steps in the matter ; but, after some delay, the Queen of 






1 Oratiorti I. and IL 

* The Bishop of London, William Courtcnay, published the bull against the 
Florentines, but was compelled by the King and Chancellor to retract the 
publication. Cf. Diet, of National Biography, XII. p. 343. In the following June, 
1377, we find the Signoria thanking the King and the Duke of Lancaster for 
favours granted to Florentines in England. Gherardi, op, cit. t doc, 357. 

189 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Naples decided to expel all the Florentines from her dominion s, 
and to take up arms on behalf of the Church. When the news 
reached Florence, on August 16, Ristoro Canigiani and Benedetto 
Strozzi were instantly sent as ambassadors of the Commune to 
induce Giovanna to reconsider her decision; and the inclusion of 
Messer Ristoro in the embassy is a striking sign of the unity of 
all parties among the Florentines for the defence of the Republic. 1 
They were unsuccessful in their mission ; but, in September, the 
forces of the Queen, advancing to the relief of Ascoli, were com- 
pletely routed and driven back by Bartolornmeo di Smeduccio. 
At the beginning of the same month, a conspiracy was discovered 
to betray Bologna to the Cardinal of Geneva and the Marquis of 
Ferrara ; several Bolognese citizens were executed, others put 
under bounds. 

The actual rupture of the negotiations came from the Pope. 
According to the Florentines, the terms offered them amounted 
to the desertion of their allies, the revolted cities of the Papal 
States, and the payment of an indemnity of three million florins. 
Even to the papal delegates, Cardinals d'Estaing and Aycelin, 
this seemed excessive, and they proposed certain modifications, to 
which Gregory answered that he would rather suffer the martyr- 
dom of St. Bartholomew than consent. He sent the chamberlain, 
Pierre de Cros, with an abrupt order to the ambassadors instantly 
to depart from the court. The three arrived at Florence on 
September 22, and their report, formally delivered before the 
Signoria and a council of a number of chief citizens, richiesti y 
raised the utmost indignation and alarm throughout the city. On 
the day after their arrival, the Eight wrote to Bernabo Visconti 
that the coming of the Pope to Italy was now certain, and that it 



1 Diarh £ Amntmo F'wtntino, pp. 313, 51 4. But, with regard to another 
disciple of Catherine, we may notice that the Eight wrote to the Bolognese on 
August 1 9, exhorting them to prorogue to another time the election of Pictro t 
Marchcsc del Monte Santa Maria, as their captain, not because for his virtues he 
is not a man worthy of the greatest honours, but only because of his excessive 
devotion to the Church, and because he is closely related to the Ubaldini, their 
deadly enemies. Gherardi, op, dt. t document 294. 

190 



FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 




was more than ever necessary to strengthen their forces, for, 
unless his powers were utterly broken, they would never be able 
to extort a fitting peace from him. A few days later, the Signoria 
wrote to the Emperor, the King of Hungary, the Doge of 
Venice, and the Doge of Genoa, enclosing copies of the terms 
the Pope had offered, declaring that the conditions would be 
outrageous if the city had been subjected to a long siege, and the 
victor were already lording it within her walls. It was decided to 
confiscate and sell the goods of the churches for money to carry 
on the war. 1 

H Alas, alas ! dearest brother," wrote Catherine to Buonaccorso 
di Lapo Giovanni, "I am grieved at the methods that have been 
adopted in asking peace from the most holy Father ; for there 
has been a show of words rather than of deeds, I say this 
because, when I came thither to you and to your lords, they 
showed in their words that they were repentant for the fault 
committed, and it seemed that they would humble themselves 
and crave mercy from the Holy Father ; for when I said to 
them: 'See, my lords, if you really intend to use all humility 
in deed as well as word, and that I should offer you up to your 
father like sons that were dead, I will labour in this to the utmost 
of your wish. In no other wise would I go' ; they answered me 
that they were content. Alas, alas ! dearest brothers, this was the 
way and the gate by which it befitted you to enter ; and there is 
no other ; and if you had followed this way in deed as in your 
words, you would have had the most glorious peace that ever 
any one had. I say not this without cause, for I know what the 
disposition of the Holy Father was like ; but since we began to 
leave that way, following the astute methods of the world, 
carrying into effect something quite different from what was first 
professed by word, the Holy Father has been given grounds, not 
for peace, but for more anger. For when your ambassadors came 
here, they did not adopt the fitting method which the servants of 

1 Gherardi, op. ctt^ documents 304-307 (Sept. 23 to Sept. 28, 1376); 
Diario ttAmmmo Florentine p. 323, where the Pope is represented as saying : "O 
io disfar6 al tutto Firenze, o Firenzc disfarebbe la santa Chiesa." 

191 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

God had suggested to them. You have gone on in your own 
fashion ; and I was never able to confer with them, although, 
when I asked for the letter of credentials, you told me that you 
would tell them that we should confer together about everything. 
Your humble words proceeded more from fear and need than 
from the spirit of love and virtue. But do you not see how 
much evil and how many untoward things have come from your 
obstinacy ? Alas, alas ! loose yourselves from the league of pride, 
and league yourselves with the humble Lamb ; do not despise or 
act against His vicar. No more so, for the love of Christ 
crucified ! Do not scorn His blood ; but do in the present time 
what has not been done in the past. Do not conceive bitterness 
or indignation, if it should seem to you that the Holy Father 
demands what appears to you very hard and impossible to do. 
He will not want more than lies in your power. But he is acting 
like a true father who punishes his son when he does wrong ; he 
rebukes him severely to make him grow humble and acknowledge 
his fault ; and the good son is not angry with his father, because 
he sees that what he does is done for love of him. So I say to 
you, in the name of Christ crucified, that, as often as you are 
spurned by our father, Christ on earth, so often must you fly back 
to him. Trust in him, for he is right. 

u And now he is coming to his spouse, to the place of St, 
Peter and St. Paul. See that you run to him at once, with true 
humility of heart and amendment for your faults, following the 
holy beginning with which you began. If you do so, you will 
have spiritual and bodily peace ; but, if you act in other fashion, 
our ancestors never had such great woes as we shall have ; for we 
shall be calling the anger of God upon us, and shall not partake 
of the blood of the Lamb. I say no more. Be as zealous as 
you can, now that the Holy Father will be at Rome. I have 
done, and will do, all that I can, even to death, for the honour of 
God and for your peace, and in order that this obstacle may 
be taken away* for it impedes the sweet and holy passage. If no 
other evil resulted from it t we should be worthy of a thousand 
hells. Take comfort in Christ, our sweet Jesus, for I hope in 

192 



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FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 

His goodness that, if you wiU adopt the course that you ought, 
you will have a good peace." l 

Catherine would gladly have left Avignon before, but the 
Pope, still feeling his spiritual powers too weak, wished to have 
her there until the very day of his departure, And not without 
reason. The French cardinals made a last effort to draw him 
back, and produced a letter, apparently anonymous, but which 
they ascribed to some person with a reputation for sanctity and 
prophecy (possibly the Franciscan, Peter of Aragon, for whom 
he had a great esteem), commending the Pope's intention of 
returning to Rome, but warning him that an attempt would be 
made to poison him if he came to Italy, advising him to postpone 
starting until the matter could be investigated, and, in any case, 
to begin the Crusade first. The letter was apparently shown to 
Catherine, probably by Fra Raimondo, at the Pope's request. She 
instantly wrote to Gregory, denouncing it in no measured terms 
as the work of an incarnate demon, " the sower of the most 
deadly poison that has for a long time been sowed in Holy 
Church/* and a manifest forgery on the part of the devil's coun- 
sellors, who wish to impede the reformation of the Church for 
their personal ends. a I conclude that I do not believe that the 
letter sent to you issues from that servant of God who has been 
named to your Holiness, nor that it was written very far away ; 
but I believe that it comes from near at hand, from the servants 
of the devil who have little fear of God. If I believed that it 
came from him, I should not consider him a servant of God, 
unless I saw other proofs of it. Pardon me, father, if I have 
spoken too presumptuously ; I humbly pray you to forgive me, 
and to give me your benediction. Remain in the holy and sweet 
charity of God. I beseech His infinite goodness to grant me 
the grace of soon seeing you, for His honour, set your foot 
outside the portals, with peace, repose, and quiet of soul and of 
body. I beseech you, sweet father, to give me audience, when it 
pleases your Holiness ; for I would fain come into your presence 



13 



1 Letter 234 (21 5). 
*93 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



before I depart* The time is short ; so that, if it pleased you so, 
I would fain it were soon/' l 

We have no record of what passed at this interview between 
Catherine and Gregory — her farewell to him until they should 
meet again (but once only, as it was to prove) upon Italian soil. 
At last the Pope's resolution was fixed. The galleys, that for 
weeks had lain waiting at Marseilles, were secretly made ready, 
and Gregory suddenly, to the incredulous dismay of the Sacred 
College, announced his intention of departing instantly. 

On September 13, 1376, Gregory came out of the papal 
palace of Avignon, to return to the seat of the Apostles. A 
mournful crowd in silence watched the departure. At the door 
of the palace his aged father, Count Guillaume de Beaufort, threw 
himself at his feet, crying : " My son, whither art thou going ? 
Shall I never see thee more ? " "It is written," answered the 
Pope, " thou shall trample upon the asp and the basilisk." And he 
passed over the prostrate body of his father — so well had he learned 
the lesson Catherine had striven from the outset to impress upon 
him, that ientrezza del farenti was one of the first things that 
Christ wished His vicar to root out from his heart. 2 From the 
beginning, evil omens seemed to attend the Pope's departure. 
His mule started and backed, and could not be made to stir, but 
another was brought, and Gregory steadfastly went on his way. 
Six cardinals — including the Cardinal of Pamplona (Pierre de 
Montirac, Vice-Chancellor of the Church), Gilles Aycelin, and 
Anglico de Grimoard (who, as archbishop of the city, was staying 
at his post)— remained at Avignon. The rest, with the other 
papal officials, accompanied the Sovereign Pontiff in the state 
procession that moved by slow stages to Marseilles, which they 
reached on September 20. Here the papal fleet — twenty-two 
galleys and a number of smaller ships, under the supreme 
command of the Grand Master of the knights of St, John— lay in 

1 Letter 239 (10), corrected by the Harleian MS. 

2 Cf* Capecclatro, pp. 262, 263, The story is told in the Quarta Ft/a 
Gngprtt XI f Baluzc, I. col. 481, in which the Count's action is wrongly assigned 
to the Pope's mother, who was already dead. 

194 






FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 



readiness ; but it was not until October 2 that the Pope actually 
embarked. It seemed that he had wished to postpone his de- 
parture from his beloved native land as long as possible. u O 
God/ 1 writes Retro Amelio da Alete, the Augustinian Bishop 
of Sinigaglia, ** who could ever imagine how copious and bitter 
were the cries and wailing and lamentations that arose I Never 
was such sorrow known. The Pope himself wept. Every cheek 
was wet with tears ; the hearts of all seemed breaking/ 1 1 The 
fleet moved slowly from port to port along the Riviera, encoun- 
tering terrible weather at sea, and at length, on October 18, 
reached Genoa. 

And here Catherine and her company were awaiting the Pope's 
coming. She had left Avignon on the day of his departure, 
September 13, and thence travelled by land, for which the Pope 
and the Duke of Anjou had provided her with the requisite 
means. We have glimpses of her on the way at Toulon, where, 
writes Fra Raimondo, M albeit we were silent, the very stones 
seemed to cry that the holy virgin had arrived in the city/' and 
where she miraculously healed a child ; and again at Voragtne (the 
modern Varazze), which she found depopulated by the pestilence. 
She promised the survivors a brighter future for their town, 
commending it to the special protection of the Blessed Trinity 
and the Madonna. 2 Early in October, she reached Genoa ; 
where, with all her company, she stayed for a month in the 
house of a noble lady of the city, Madonna Orietta Scotti, whose 
husband, Messer Barnaba Scotti, is said to have been descended 
from a Scotch soldier of fortune who came to Italy in the days of 
Charlemagne* 

The tossing on the seas had shaken the Pope's nerves, and the 
news he received on landing increased his dismay* On October 
12, the Eight had written from Florence to the Romans, pro- 
fessing astonishment at their belief in the coming of the Pope, 
who was lingering at Marseilles and looking for an excuse to 

1 liinerarmm Domini Gregprii Papae XI > a long and detailed composition in 
leonine verses, in Rtr, It. Script., iii. 2. 

2 Cf. Augusta Dranc, II. pp. 6-8. 

*95 



7 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

return to Avignon : " And, if he comes, it will not be in pea 
guise, but accompanied by martial fury ; we are absolutely con- 
vinced that his presence will bring you nothing save war and 
devastation/ 1 l There were popular tumults in Rome ; the 
Florentines continued to carry on the war round Bologna and 
AscolL Although the reception of the Curia by the Genoese 
had been cordial and enthusiastic, the Doge, even in the Pope's 
presence, declared himself unable to publish the papal processes 
against the Florentines in the city. The French cardinals 
exaggerated every report, represented the stormy weather as a 
divine warning, and urged the Pope to reconsider the situation. 
A consistory was held, at which it was proposed that they should 
return to Avignon, and Gregory was about to give way. 

But the Pope still thought of Catherine, whom, apparently, he 
had not seen since his arrival. He feared to summon her to 
his presence, because of the comments and opposition this would 
excite among the cardinals, and thought it derogatory to his 
dignity to visit her openly in the day, when throngs of people 
were pressing to see her and hear her words. In the evening, on 
the day of the consistory, he went in disguise to the house of 
Orietta Scott L Catherine fell at his feet ; he bade her rise, for 
that he himself was a suppliant, and besought her to obtain him 
the grace to know what course he should adopt After a long 
colloquy with her, Gregory departed, full of edification and with 
his courage restored. 2 He at once informed the cardinals 
of his resolution to proceed, and ordered the fleet to put to sea. 
On October 29, he set sail from Genoa, and Catherine was 
destined never again to see his face in this life. 

Catherine herself was delayed at Genoa for some weeks after 
the Pope had left, partly by her unceasing labours for the salva- 
tion of souls, partly by an outbreak of sickness among her 
fellowship. Stefano Maconi tells us that they were almost all 

1 Gherardi, <#>. ctL f doc, 309. 

2 This incident is recorded only by Fra Tommaso in the Suppkmentum ; 
Tantucci, pp. 48, 49. Cf. Qratime IIL, the prayer that the Saint offered on this 
occasion. 

196 









FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 




taken ill, and that Madonna Orietta watched most anxiously over 
them, calling in two physicians every day to their aid. Neri di 
Landoccio and Stefan o himself, who had nursed the others, 
suffered most of all, the former being brought very near to 
death's door, and both seemed miraculously restored to health by 
Catherine's prayers and her spiritual power upon them, 1 " Take 
comfort sweetly and be patient," she wrote to Giovanna Maconi, 
Stefano's mother, " and do not be troubled because I have kept 
Stefano too long ; for I have taken good care of him. Through 
love and affection I have become one thing with him, and there- 
fore I have taken what is yours as though it were mine own. I am 
sure that you are not really displeased. For you and for him 
together I would fain do my very utmost, even unto death. You, 
mother, have given birth to him once ; and I wish to give birth to 
him and you and all your family, in tears and in labour, through 
continual prayer and desire for your salvation," ■ 

And to her own mother, Lapa, who bewailed her daughter's 
long absence and complained that she had been deserted, she 
wrote a tender letter of comfort, u with desire of seeing you the 
true mother, not only of my body, but of my soul." M Dearest 
mother* you know that I must follow the will of God ; and I 
know that you wish me to follow it. It was His will that I 
should set out on this journey, which has not been without 
mystery nor without fruits of great usefulness. It has been by 
His will that I have stayed, and not by the will of man ; and, if 
any one said the contrary, it is false and not the truth. And so I 
shall have to go, following His footsteps in what way and at what 
time shall please His inestimable goodness. You, like a good 
and sweet mother, should be content and not distressed at bearing 
all burdens for the honour of God, and your salvation and mine. 
Remember that you did this for the sake of temporal goods, 
when your sons left you in order to acquire temporal riches ; but 
now, to acquire life eternal, it seems to you such a burden that 
you say you will vanish, if I do not answer you at once. All this 

1 Epistofa Domni Sttphani, § 13 ; Lcgcnda, II. vni. : . 1 24 (§ § 261-264). 

2 Letter 247 (j 5 5). 

197 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 






befalls you because you love that part which I have received from 
you, that is, your flesh with which you clothed me, more than 
that which I have received from God. Raise, O raise your heart 
and affection to that sweet and most holy Cross, where every 
burden becomes light ; be willing to bear a little finite pain, to 
escape the infinite pain which we deserve for our sins. Now take 
comfort, for the love of Christ crucified ; and do not think your- 
self abandoned, either by God or by me* Nay, you will be 
consoled and will receive full consolation ; your sorrow has not 
been so great, but that the joy will be greater. We shall soon 
come, by the grace of God. M l 

Early in November, Catherine and her company left Genoa 
by sea. After narrowly escaping shipwreck on the way, they 
landed at Livorno and went on thence to Pisa, where Lapa, Fra 
Tommaso della Fonte, and others met them. From Pisa, 
Catherine sent Stefatio to Siena, with letters and messages, to 
prepare the way for their return ; 2 and, probably about the middle 
of December, she found herself once more in her native city. 

In the meanwhile, Gregory had proceeded on his way, tossed 
by storms at sea and assailed by sinister rumours wherever he 
touched shore. At Livorno, which he reached on November 10, 
he was received by Piero Gambacorti and hts sons, who, together 
with the ambassadors of Lucca, again besought him to make peace 
with the Florentines. But the Pope would not listen to a word 
on the subject, but ordered fresh processes to be published against 
them. A fearful tempest arose and scattered the fleet ; the 
galleys of the Cardinals of Amiens and Glandeves sank, but their 
lives were saved ; the greater part of the ships got to Port' 
Ercole. Gregory himself with six galleys was driven to the 
island of Elba, from which he despatched a letter to the cardinals, 
u bidding them take heart, for these tempests which he had suffered 

1 Letter 240 (169). 

2 Two letters from Stefano at Siena toNcri at Pisa ("al luogode' frati di San 
Domcnico, o vero di Santa Caterina**), dated November 29 and December 8, 
1376, arc published by Grottanelli in the Lctttrc dtl dhcepolt^ 5 and 6 r full of 
little playful touches. 

198 







FROM THE BABYLON OF THE WEST 



on the sea were the sign of a great victory, and no prince had ever 
come to Italy without enduring storms and tribulations at sea, if 
he were afterwards to prove a conqueror, as was shown by the 
example of Aeneas and King Charles." l At length, on December 
5, the Pope reached the shores of the Papal States, and landed at 
the port of Corneto. 

At Corneto the Pope stayed for nearly six weeks, to keep 
Christmas, and to come to terms with the Romans, whom the 
Florentines were inciting to insurrection. Here he received a 
characteristic letter from Catherine, written shortly after her 
return to Siena, exhorting him to constancy, fortitude, and 
patience, assuring him of the good disposition of the Sienese, 
urging him to proceed with confidence. 2 Nevertheless, ill tidings 
poured in. On December 14, the citadel of Ascoli, from which 
Gomez Albornoz had escaped in a vain effort to procure reinforce- 
ments, was compelled to surrender to the forces of the league. 
A week later, an attempt to gain back CJtta di Castello for the 
Church failed ; Uguccione and Francesco, sons of the Marchese 
Angelo del Monte Santa Maria, were beheaded ; and Benedetto 
Strozzi and Ristoro Canigiani (a further proof of the solidarity of 
all parties in Florence for the defence of the Republic) were sent 
to confirm the city in its friendship with the Commune of Florence, 
" and with a word from the Eight of the War." 3 Bolsena 
revolted from the Church ; and, at the beginning of January, a 
papal force composed of troops supplied by the Queen of Naples, 
which had been sent against Viterbo, was completely defeated by 
Francesco di Vico and the Florentines. 4 

But this was more than counterbalanced by the submission of 
Rome itself. On December 21, an agreement was made between 

1 Despatch from Cristoforo da Piaccnza to Lodovico Gonzaga, dated Rome, 
December 13, 1376. Pastor, Acta lncJita r doc. I. 

a Letter 252 (1 1). 

8 Diari* tfJnonimo Fiortntino, p, 327. 

4 Luigi delle Vigne, a brother of Fra Raimondo, was one of the Queen's 
knights who were taken prisoners on this occasion. In Letter 254 (284), to Pietro 
di Jacomo Tolomei, Catherine begs him to use his influence with the Prefect to 
get Luigi set free without ransom, 

199 



*j^< 
-^^ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Cardinals d'Estaing, Corsini, and Tebaldeschi, in the name of 
the Church t and the government and people of Rome, by which 
the full dominion of the city was offered to the said cardinals, as 
representing the Pope, in the same manner and form as had been 
offered to Urban V, The whole of Trastevere and the Leonine 
city was put into the hands of Cardinal Tebaldeschi as papal 
legate ; the Pope on his part undertaking to preserve and maintain 
the Signoria of the Bandarest» ** the society of the executors of 
justice and four counsellors, the crossbowmen and shieldbearers/* 
while stipulating that the right of reforming the said society should 
be recognized as pertaining to him. 1 The last obstacle to the 
return of the Sovereign Pontiff to the seat of the Apostles was 
thus removed. On January 13, the fleet sailed from Corneto, 
A fair and prosperous voyage to Ostia raised the hopes and 
expectations of the Pope and his court ; and, on January 16, they 
sailed up the Tiber to San Paolo fuori le Mura, where they were 
received with every demonstration of enthusiasm and exultation 
by the Bandaresi and the people of Rome, The next day, 
January 17, 1377, Gregory made his triumphal entry into the 
Eternal City: "Verily," writes the Bishop of Sinigaglia, ** I 
never thought in this world to see such glory with my own eyes." 

1 Convention in RaynaUus, vii, p. 283. 



200 



CHAPTER X 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 

"Per altro non venni se non per mangiare e gustare anime, e trarle delle mani delle 
dimonia. La vita voglio lasclare per quetto, Be 10 n'avessi milk\ E per questa cagione 
anderd e itard aecondo die Lo Spirito Santo fari fare." — St. Catherine, Letter izi (xoi). 



no 



It is evident from Catherine's letters that she had 
thought or desire of seeing Gregory return to Rome as a 
temporal sovereign. She dreamed of the Pope as a purely 
spiritual power, coming unarmed in poverty and humility, 
conquering all opposition by the might of love alone. The 
spectacle of the Church fighting against the Italians with 
mercenary arms, for the recovery of the revolted cities of the 
Papal States, was to her an utter horror and abomination, a 
veritable war against God, 

To the Sovereign Pontiff, shortly after his return to Rome, 
she addressed a letter which gives impassioned utterance to the 
aspirations of all those Catholics who, at any epoch in the history 
of the Church, have prayed that their pastors might realize that 
Christ's kingdom was not of this world, and, for the salvation of 
souls, consent at length to lay down the Christless burden of tem- 
poral power (even if existing merely in unrealizable and vaguely 
formulated demands) — only to be confronted by the papal non 
possumus f the declaration that he who sits on the throne of 
the Fisherman cannot renounce what the Church has once 
possessed, or claimed to possess, as her own. God demands 
peace from the Pope, she writes, and that he should not be so 
intent upon temporal lordship and possessions as not to see how 
great is the destruction of souls and the outrage to God that 
results from war. a You could indeed say, Holy Father : * I 
am bound in conscience to preserve and recover what belongs 
to Holy Church/ Alas, I confess that it is true ; but it seems 
to me that one must still more guard what is more dear. The 

20 1 






-1 



kP> 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



treasure of the Church is the blood of Christ, given in ransom 
for the soul ; for the treasure of the blood is not paid for 
temporal substance, but for the salvation of the human race. 
So that, supposing that you are bound to conquer and preserve 
the treasure and the lordship of the cities that the Church has 
lost ; much more are you bound to win back so many little 
sheep, who are a treasure in the Church. It is better to let the 
mire of temporal things go than the gold of spiritual things. 
Peace, peace, for the love of Christ crucified, 11 What is the loss 
of the temporal power compared to the evil of seeing grace perish 
in men's souls, and the obedience die away that they owe the 
Pope ? How can he reform the Church while he remains at 
war, and squanders upon soldiers what belongs to the poor ? 
11 You have need of the aid of Christ crucified ; set, then, your 
affection and your desire upon Him ; not on man and on human 
aid, but on Christ sweet Jesus, whose place you hold ; for it 
seems that He wishes the Church to return to her sweet primal 
state. O how blessed will your soul be and mine, when I see 
you begin this great good work, and when what God is now 
permitting by force shall be accomplished in your hands by 
love ! H 1 

As soon as Catherine got back to Siena, certain Florentines 
waited upon her- — apparently on behalf of the Parte Guelfa— 
wishing to hear from her lips what she had done for them at 
Avignon, and what were the dispositions of the Pope. She 
answered that Gregory was ready to receive them into his grace, 
if they would give proof of their submission to the Holy See, 

1 $* t* the return of the Church to Jicr primitive state of poverty and purity 
by the loss of her temporal possessions. Letter 209 (2), corrected by the 
Harleian MS,, which states that this letter was sent to the Pope "poi che fii 
giunto a Roma," as is confirmed by internal evidence ; Gigli and Tommaseo arc 
clearly in error in assigning it to an earlier date. The postscript in the MS, 
reads : " I believe that Fra Jaeopoda Padova, the bearer of this letter, is a true 
and sweet servant of God ; I commend him to you, and beseech your Holiness 
to be pleased to sec him and the others always near you." Fra Jacopo of 
Padua was an Olivctan monk, one of Catherine's correspondents, who was 
afterwards prior of San Bartolommeo outside Florence. 

202 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



and urged them to send ambassadors to him as soon as he should 
have arrived at Rome. They besought her to come again to 
Florence, to give a formal account of her legation and appease the 
minds of the Parte Guelfa ; this, however, Catherine refused to 
do, as compromising the dignity of the Church after what had 
passed at Avignon, though she ultimately consented to send 
Stefano Maconi in her stead. When he arrived at Florence, 
Niccolo Soderini, Piero Canigiani, and Stoldo di Bindo Altoviti 
(a prominent member of the Parte Guelfa, who played a con- 
siderable part in the internal politics, of the Republic) accompanied 
Stefano to the Eight, to whom he delivered Catherine's message, 
detailing all that had been done in Avignon and urging them to 
make peace. But a rumour spread through the city that ct a 
certain Catherinated Sienese n was inducing the Eight to subject 
the government to the Pope ; a tumult was raised, u so that not 
otherwise than of old the Jews gnashed on the blessed levite 
Stephen with their teeth, so did many of the people with 
murderous fury upon our Stephen, and they would without 
doubt have assailed him, had not the authority of most influential 
men intervened. 1 * 1 Nevertheless, Stefano's biographer assures 
us, his words had not been lost. But events were to render all 
immediate prospects of peace out of the question. 

Almost all the States of Italy, even those at war with the 
Holy See, sent ambassadors to congratulate the Pope on his 
arrival. The Stenese were also charged with the task of making 
excuses for their having joined the league, and of obtaining 
from the Pope the restitution of Talamone, which had been 
seized by the prior of the Pisan knights of St. John with aid 
from the Church. With them went Tommaso di Guelfaccio, 
the Gesuato, bearing a letter from Catherine to the Pontiff, 
once more exhorting him to make peace with the Tuscan 
communes and the revolted cities, for the pacification of all Italy. 
By love alone can he hope to win the souls of the Italians. 

1 Barth. Sinensis, op. (b n Lib, I. cap. 8. This is our only authority for this 
embassy, which, from the wording of Catherine's answer, was evidently while the 
Pope was at Corneto. 

203 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



" The Sienese ambassadors are coming to your Holiness, and, 
if there are any folk in the world who can be caught with love, 
these are they. And, therefore, I pray you to strive to take them 
with this hook. Accept their excuses for the fault which they 
have committed, for they are sorry for it, and it seems to them 
that they are in such a position that they know not what to do. 
I beseech you, sweet babbo mine, if you see any way by which 
they could satisfy your Holiness without their being involved in 
war with those with whom they are allied, you would be pleased to 
adopt it. Bear with them, for the love of Christ crucified. I believe 
that, if you do this, it will be a great boon for Holy Church and 
obviate much evil." 1 The Pope received them kindly for 
Catherines sake, but would only answer in generalities — with 
the result that the ambassadors doubted his pacific intentions, and 
concluded that he meant to hold Talamone as a pledge for the 
loyalty of the Sienese in his coming campaign for the reconquest 
of the Papal States. 

The three Florentine ambassadors arrived in Rome on 
January 26. They were Pazzino Strozzi, Alessandro dell* 
Antclla, and Michele Castellani — the same three who had been 
to Avignon— and they bore a mandate to congratulate the Pope 

tand to treat for peace. Gregory received them kindly, but would 
only offer practically the same terms as before : they^ must pay 

[an indemnity of more than a million florins to the apostolic 
treasury within four years, and virtually abandon their colleagues 
ill the league. 2 The indemnity was more than excessive, and an 
appalling event, that happened a few days later, enabled the 

1 Letter 285 (14), amended by the Harlcian MS. The ambassadors were 
Andrea di Conte, Giovanni Vincenti, and three others, Cf. O, Malavohi, pp, 
143c, 144, and the Cronka Sanest, col. 252, On November 25 {1376), the 
Signoria of Florence had requested the Sienese to suspend the sending of the 
ambassadors, as the time was at hand in which all the confederates were to meet 
to consider the general utility of the league, Gherardt, op. cit. t doc. 321, 

2 Ghcrardi, op. at., pp. fl 9 72. St, Antoninus states (III, p. 384) that the 
Pope had written from Corncto to the Florentines, bidding them send him the 
same ambassadors that had been to Avignon ; but there is documentary evidence 
that they had been already appointed in November. 

2O4 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



Florent ines to give a sinister interpretation to the second papal 
_ dema nd. 

Foiled at Bologna, the Cardinal of Geneva had taken the 
Bretons into winter quarters at Cesena, the only large town in 
Romagna that now remained faithful to the Church, The over- 
bearing brutality of these ruffians, backed by the Cardinal, who 
gave them leave to take what they needed from the citizens 
without payment, brought about an armed rising in Cesena on 
February I, in which some three or four hundred of the Bretons 
were killed, and the rest driven from the city, or forced to take 
refuge with the Cardinal in the citadel There was no thought r 
of rebellion against the Pope : ** Viva la Chiesa," had been 
jhe sho ut of the populace, no less than u Muoiano 1 Brettoni ** ; 
and, on the following day, trusting in the pacific declaration of 
the Cardinal, the insurgents laid down their arms. But already, 
at the former's summons, Hawkwood and his English were 
hastening from Faenza ; joining forces with the infuriated 
Bretons, they .entered Cesena at night by the citadel, and were 
ordered to put the inhabitants to the sword. To do him justice, 
Hawkwood hesitated, and made some sort of remonstrance ; but 
the Cardinal insisted. On the next day, February 3, an appalling 
massacre followed. ^Meji,jwomen, and children were slaughtered 
indiscriminately ; the English were chiefly bent on plunder, but 
the Bretons, thirsting for vengeance, did not even spare the 
in hints at the breast or in the cradle, and committed unspeakable 
horrors of every description. The churches were desecrated, 
those of the friars who attempted to give sanctuary to the 
fugitives were murdered with the rest. At least four thousand 
of the inhabitants of Cesena were thus butchered ; fifteen 
thousand survivors, starving and perishing with the cold, fled 
in utter destitution, to die on the way, or find shelter, as best 
they could, in the neighbouring towns. A thrill of horror ran 
through all Italy — it is impossible to set down on paper even a 
small part of the unutterable atrocities that the common report 
of the time ascribed to the mercenary soldiers of the Church, 
M Nero himself never committed such cruelty,** writes the 

205 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIEN A 



6 



- 



Franciscan chronicler of Bologna ; " it was enough to make folk 
believe no more in pope or cardinals.** In all the cities of the 
league, Masses were offered up, and men and women thronged 
the churches to make offerings, and to pray for the repose of the 
murdered citizens of Cesena. 

If such was the fate of the faithful adherents of the Church, 
what might not the rebels expect at her hands, if deserted by their 
Florentine allies ? Coluccio Salutati wrote, in the name of the 
Republic, to the States of Italy and to the princes of Christendom, 
declaring that what had happened had thoroughly justified the 
policy of Florence. ** This is the unhappy fate of peoples that 
obey the Church ! This is the deplorable state of Italy, which 
these rulers for the Church are destroying and defacing 1 But we 
do not accuse the humanity of the Sovereign Pontiff of these 
things, for we believe that he is cordially displeased by this and 
many others, about which we are silent ; but we lament 
exceedingly that he still finds no remedy for so many and such 
horrible deeds/* l Nevertheless, Gregory seems to have taken no 
steps publicly to dissociate himself from the unutterable horrors 
done in his name. In his eloquent canzone to the Pope, 
Franco Sacchettt bewails u the innocent blood of Cesena, shed 
with such fury by these wolves of thine M : " Woe to whoso is 
under thee and does not rise 1 For there is just cause to free 
oneself from him who is fain to feed on human blood.*' 

Nowhere in Catherine's letters does she make any explicit 

| reference to the massacre of Cesena. But, doubtless, the fresh 

I remembrance of the blood of these unhappy victims to the lust of 

the pastors of the Church for temporal sovereignty must have 

given terrible actuality to her letter to the Pope, written ten 

weeks after the event, pleading for peace at any price : — 

1 The fullest account of the massacre is given in t\\z\Cronica di Bologna, col. 510; 
the Cronka Sanese 3 coll. 252-254 ; and by St. Antoninus, III. p. 383, who to some 
extent exonerates the English of the worst horrors. For the whole subject, cf. 
Uetddio di Cessna del 1377 di anonimo sent tore coetaneo, ed. G. Gori (Archivio Storico 
haliano, N. S. vol. viii. part 2), and Cancstrini, of>« cit., p. xlvi.f*. Contemporary 
authorities differ considerably as to the details and the numbers killed on either 
side ; that 4000 of the inhabitants perished in the massacre is the lowest estimate. 

206 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



" Have mercy upon so many souls and bodies that are perish- 
ing. O pastor and keeper of the cellar of the blood of the 
Lamb, let not trouble nor shame nor the abuse that you might 
think to receive, nor servile fear draw you back, nor the perverse 
counsellors of the devil who counsel you to nought else save wars 
and misery- Consider what great evils are resulting from this 
wicked war, and how great is the good that will be the result of 
peace. Alas ! babbo mio, my soul is full of woe, for my iniquities 
are the cause of every ill. It seems that the devil has taken the 
lordship of the world, not by himself, for he can do nothing ; but 
in as much as we have given him. On whatever side I turn, I see 
that each one has given him the keys of free will by his perverse 
desires ; laymen, religious, and clergy are proudly pursuing delights 
and states and worldly riches, with much impurity and misery. 
But, above all other things that I see, the most abominable in the 
sight of God are the flowers that are planted .in the mystical 
body of Holy Church — which should be flowers of sweet odour, 
and their life a mirror of virtue, hungry lovers of the honour of 
God and of the salvation of souls. They are befouled with every 
misery, lovers of themselves, uniting their own sins with those 
of the others, and especially in the persecution that is being dealt 
to the sweet Spouse of Christ and to your Holiness. 1 Alas ! we 
have fallen under the sentence of death, and we have made war 
upon God. O babbo mio, you are given us as the mediator to 
make this peace ; and I do not see how it can be done, unless you 
carry the cross of holy desire. We are at war with God, and 
your rebellious children are at war with God and with your 
Holiness. God wills and demands of you that, according to your 
power, you should take the lordship from the hands of the 
demons. Set yourself to freeing Holy Church from the foul smell 
of her ministers ; weed out these stinking flowers, and plant sweet- 
smelling flowers therein, virtuous men who fear God. Then I 
pray your Holiness to be pleased to grant peace and to accept it, 
in whatever way it can be had, always without injury to the Church 

1 That is, the wickedness of the priests and ecclesiastics is giving strength to 
the opponents of the Holy See. 

207 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and your conscience. God would have you attend to souls and 
to spiritual things more than to temporal." 1 

Catherine dates this letter from H the new monastery which 
you have granted me, entitled Santa Maria degli Angeli." This 
was on the site of the present villa of Belcaro, that most roman- 
tically placed castle, embedded in its noble grove of ilexes, from 
the battlements of which the Sienese contado lies outstretched 
before our eyes away to the Maremma and distant Monte Amiata. 
It had been given her by Nanni di Ser Vanni Saving who, after 
an unfortunate and turbulent career as a politician of the faction 
of the Twelve, had been finally converted to a religious life. 
While at Avignon, the Pope had granted her the necessary 
faculties ; and on her return to Siena, the Signoria, in answer to 
her petition of January 25, 1377, had authorized her to turn 
the dismantled fortress into a monastery, for the reception of 
u religious sisters, who will continually pray for the city and 
citizens and inhabitants of Siena and its contado." 2 The Abbot 
of Sant 1 Antimo, Fra Giovanni di Gano of Orvieto (a monk in 
whom Catherine had great confidence, and who occasionally acted 
as one of her confessors), formally blessed the beginning of the 
monastery as papal commissary, in the presence of all Catherine's 
spiritual family, and William Flete came over from the neighbour- 
ing Lecceto to say the first Mass. Catherine returned to Siena 
on April 25, the feast of St. Mark. 

We have lost sight of Francesco di Vanni Malavolti during 
these months. During Catherine's absence at Avignon, he had 
drifted back to his former dissolute way of life, and, on her return, 
at first shrank from visiting her. She implored him to come to 

1 Letter 270 (12). The date, April 16, 1377, is given by the Harleian and 
Palatine MSS. 

a It was forbidden to alienate fortified places without leave of the Commune, 
but the Saint represents in her petition that the castle is in ruins, and that she 
will do nothing save with the permission of the Defenders. The petition was 
approved by the General Council of the Bell by 333 votes to 65. Cf. the document 
given by Grottanclli, notes to Leggrnda minors,, pp. 219-222, and Legtmia t II. vit. 
17-20 (§§ 235-238). There was a Carthusian convent in the vicinity, of which 
several of the monks were among Catherine's disciples and correspondents. 

208 












THE ANGEL OF PEACE 

her. u Dearest and beloved son in Christ sweet Jesus," she 
wrote, "I, Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus 
Christ, write to thee in His precious blood, with desire of finding 
thee again, my little lost sheep, and I have a very great desire of 
putting thee back into the fold with thy companions. It seems 
to me that the devil has so robbed me of thee that thcu dost 
not let thyself be found; and I, thy miserable mother, go seeking 
and sending for thee, because I would fain take thee upon my 
shoulders, by reason of the bitter sorrow and compassion that I 
have for thy soul, Open the eye of thy understanding, dearest 
son, raise it from the darkness, and recognize thy fault, not with 
confusion of mind^ but with knowledge of thyself and with hope 
in the goodness of God. See how miserably thou hast spent the 
substance of grace that thy heavenly Father gave thee. But, 
even as that son did, who, when he had wasted his substance and 
began to be in want, realized his fault and had recourse to his 
father for forgiveness, so do thou ; for thou art impoverished and 
in want ; thy soul is dying of hunger, Go to thy Father for 
forgiveness ; He will succour thee, and will not despise thy 
desire, if it is founded in sorrow for the sin committed — nay, He 
will fulfil it sweetly. Alas, alas ! where are thy sweet desires ? 
O my unhappy soul ! I have found that the devil has stolen thy 
soul and thy holy desire* The world and its servants have spread 
the snares with its disordinate pleasures and delights. Up, now, 
take the remedy, and sleep no more. Comfort my soul, and be 
not so cruel, for thy salvation, as to grudge me one visit. Do 
not let thyself be deceived by the devil through fear or shame. 
Break this entanglement. Come, come, dearest son : I can well 
call thee diar % so much art thou costing me in tears and labour, 
and in much bitter sorrow. Ah, come, my sweet son, and return 
to thy fold. I plead my excuse before God, for I can do no 
more. In coming and staying, I am asking nothing from thee, 
save that thou wouldst do the will of God, I say no more. 
May Christ Jesus console thee with thyself and me with thee. 1 * 1 



1 I follow the Palatine MS. 59, which givei a better text of this letter than 
14 209 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Francesco tells us that he at once went to her, u albeit not without 
great shame and fear. But she, like a most benign and sweetest 
mother, received me with a joyful countenance, giving the greatest 
comfort to my weakness. And a few days afterwards, when I 
went to her again, and one of the virgin's women companions 
said to her, as it were in blame of me, that I had little stability, she 
said with a smile : ■ Never mind, my sisters, for he cannot escape out 
of my hands, let him go by what way he will ; for when he thinks 
that I am far from him, I shall put such a yoke upon his neck 
that he will never be able to slip out of it/ At this time, I had 
both wife and children. The sisters, and I with them, laughed at 
these words, and we made merry, nor did any of us then think 
any more about them. 1 ' 1 

At Siena, Catherine had again taken up her apostolic mission, 
labouring for the conversion of souls, making peace between 
enemies, tending and comforting the afflicted. Above all, at this 
^ time, the prisoners and those doomed to death by the law claimed 

her ministrations. The government lived in daily apprehension 
of conspiracies ; the prisons were full ; executions were incessant. 
At the beginning of this year, 1377, a young noble of Gubbio, 
Gaddo Accorimboni, had been made podesta, and, in the hope 
of obtaining the senatorship, he set about his work with the most 
ruthless severity, caring less for justice than for winning a re- 
putation as an inflexible and vigorous magistrate. We have 
still the beautiful letter that, on the Thursday in Holy Week, 
Catherine addressed to the prisoners under his heavy hand, 
exhorting them to gain true patience in the contemplation of the 
blood of Christ crucified. 2 It was probably now that the episode 
in her life occurred that is known to so many > that know nought 
else of Catherine, by Bazzi's fresco and Mr. Swinburne's poem. 
A young Perugian noble, apparently little more than a youth, 
Niccolo di Toldo, attached to the household of the Senator or 









Gigli (z66) or Tomnusco (45), It is also one of those included in the Bologne 
edition of 1492. 

1 Contestatlo Francisci dt Ma/avoltif t cap. L, MS. «/., p. 433. 

■ Letter 260 (309). C£ Crtmica Santsf, col. 251. 

2IO 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



Podesta, was sentenced to death for some rash words he had 
uttered against the State, Fra Tommaso Caffarini found him in 
the prison of the Commune, raging with despair, refusing to make 
his confession or to hear a word about the salvation of his souL 
He had never received the sacraments since his first Communion. 
Then Catherine came to his cell, bringing him such mystical 
consolation that he became "like a meek lamb led to the sacrifice," 
and died with Christ's name and hers on his lips, she receiving 
his severed head into her hands. u He met his death," writes 
Fra Tommaso, "with such wonderful devotion that it seemed not 
that of one condemned for any crime of man, but rather the 
passing away of some holy martyr. All who witnessed it, among 
whom I was one, were moved to such intense compunction of 
heart, that never, until then, do I remember having been present 
at any funeral where there was so much devotion as at his/ 1 1 I 
will return presently to the wonderful letter m which Catherine 
informs Fra Raimondo of every detail in the tragedy turned 
triumph ; for it is one of those that most vividly illustrate the 
words of Stefano Maconi, that in her letters we may perceive 
" the living image of that divine virgin, expressed in the most 
true features of her holiness." 

In the summer of this year, Catherine left the city, to carry 
on her spiritual ministry in the Sienese contado. The immediate 
occasion of her going was a feud that had arisen between two 
of the principal members of the great house of the Salimbeni, 
Agnolino di Giovanni di Agnolino and Cione di Sandro, which 
was threatening to set the whole district once more aflame 
with civil war. A dispute concerning the possession of a 
castle, in which they both claimed a share, was the ostensible 
cause of the quarrel, but there was also a political difference 
between the two nobles. Cione, a restless and turbulent spirit, 
inclined to support the policy of the papal legates in Tuscany, 
from whom he was always looking for aid against the liberties of 

1 CuntatafiQ Fr. Thomas Processus^ col, 1266. The story is one of Fra 
rommaso's additions tn the Leggtnda minore, pp. 93, 94, as Fra Raimondo, being 
then absent from Siena, does not mention it. Sec below, chapter xvi, 

21 I 



J* 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



his fellow-citizens ; while Agnolino, the head of the family, 
although he had joined in the rebellion of 1374, had inherited 
the traditions of his famous father, Giovanni di Agnolino Salimbeni, 
who for so many years had been a power for peace in the State, 
and was ready to serve the Republic against all her enemies. 
Agnolino's widowed mother, the venerable Madonna Biancina 
Salimbeni, a sister of the lords of Foligno, had been for long the 
devoted worshipper of Catherine, who was also in correspondence 
with Madonna Stricca, the wife of Messer Cione. It was 
probably at the invitation of these two ladies that Catherine 
intervened in the dispute, though she was doubtless glad of such 
an opportunity to pursue the same apostolic work for her divine 
Master and Bridegroom among the people of the contado that 
she had already accomplished, for so many years, within the walls 
of Siena itself. 

Several of Catherine's letters to the Salimbeni have been 
preserved. Besides Biancina and Stricca, she was in correspond- 
ence with Agnolino's two sisters, the Countess Benedetta and 
Madonna Isa, both of whom were at this time widows, and 
whom she was persuading to enter the religious life. 1 To 
Benedetta, whose second betrothed had died before the wedding, 
and upon whom her family were urging a third marriage for 
political reasons, she wrote urging her not to give herself to the 
perverse service of the world, but to take the two rebuffs it had 
given her as a sign that she was called to be the bride of Christ, 
and advising her to enter the new monastery of S. Maria degli 
Angeli at Belcaro. And in a longer letter, on divine love con- 
trasted with the love of men, she invites her to the enclosed 
garden of self-knowledge, planted in the soil of true humility. 
** I know/' she writes to Agnolino, u that much evil has been said 
and will be said to you about the Countess, because she wishes 
to be the servant and bride of Jesus Christ. She and you would 
be very foolish, if she did not answer, now that the Holy Spirit 

1 In the Cronica Sanese* under 1373, we read: ** Agnolino di Giovanni 
Salimbeni ne mando a marito due sue sorelle di Dkembre. El Comunc di Siena 
mand6 gente a far lo' scorta " (col. 236). 

212 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



calling her. And she has 



that the world 



her 



^ 



is calling her. Ana she has seen that the world rejects her an 
drives her to Christ crucified, 1 ' And to Madonna Isa, who 
ultimately became one of the Mantellate, she suggests that 
Benedetta should come to the Rocca — Rocca d* Orcia or Rocca di 
Tentennano, the chief fortress of the Salimbeni, where Agnolino 
usually resided with their mother — before she herself came 
thither. 1 

It was already August when Catherine left Siena, accompanied 
by her usual band of disciples and women, which included Fife 
Raimondo, Fra Tommaso della Fonte, Fra Bartolommeo, Fra 
Matteo Tolomei, Fra Santi, Stefano, Neri, the newly regained 
Francesco Malavolti (from whose pen comes the most vivid 
description of these months), Gabriele Piccolomini> with Alessa, 
Cecca, Lisa, and others of the Mantellate. Monna Lapa — 
familiarly known as nonna y or "granny/* by the members of her 
daughter's spiritual family — -seems to have come as far as 
Montepulciano. She and Cecca were left among the nuns of 
the monastery of Santa Agnese, where Cecca had a daughter, 
Giustina, a novice ; while Catherine went on her mission, first to 
Cione Salimbeni at his stronghold of Castigltoncello del Trinoro, W , *-* 
and thence to Agnolino at the Rocca, u And in a short space of c£*^Z 
time/' writes Francesco Malavolti, "she brought both of them > ]( 
to perfect concord, which many other barons and potent men had \ j^\l 
hitherto been unable to effect. " From the Rocca, Catherine visited by 
the Abbey of Sant' Antimo, at the request of her friend the Abbot, 
who found himself involved in a quarrel with the archpriest of 
Montakino, who claimed jurisdiction over him. In like fashion, 
at Montepulciano, it was her task to pacify Spinello Tolomei and 
others of his family, who were in a chronic state of hostility 
towards both the Salimbeni and the Republic, and divided among 
themselves. In this latter attempt, however, she had only a 
partial and temporary success ; for, in the following spring, in 
spite of the intervention of the new Bishop of Siena (Luca 
Bertini, the papal nuncio whose imprisonment at Florence has 



' Letters in (329), 113 (330), 114(267), 115 (33 *)• 

213 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



>een already mentioned), Spinello rose ttl arms, harried the lands 
of the Salimbeni, and renewed the fierce factions of the two 
houses. 

For more than four months Catherine remained in these 
parts, making Rocca d' Oreia her headquarters. No traces of 
this once famous castle remain to-day. It stood on an eminence 
above the Orcia, some twenty-three miles from Siena on the way 
to Rome, between Montepulciano and Montalcino, and (like so 
many similar castelli that we still see in southern Tuscany and in 
the Roman Campagna) was practically a small town centred 
round the great fortress of the feudal lord. It was also known 
as the *■ Isola della Rocca/' apparently from its isolated position. 
Here, the pacific work for which they had come being accom- 
plished, Madonna Bianeina showed herself the most loving and 
devoted of hostesses to Catherine and her followers, while men 
and women poured in from the hills and country round, to hear 
the Saint's words arid be healed of their maladies* Wonderful 
stories are told us by Fra Raimondo and by Francesco Malavolti 
of her power in casting out demons from the bodies of the 
possessed, 1 but even more remarkable were the conversions that 
she effected in men's souls. " I sometimes saw," writes Fra 
Raimondo, " a thousand or more persons, men and women, come 
together from the mountains and other regions of the Sienese 
contado, to see and hear Catherine, as it were summoned by 
an invisible trumpet ; and there, not only by her words, but at 
the mere sight of her, they were straightway moved to 
compunction for their misdeeds ; weeping and bewailing their 
sins, they hastened to the confessors, of whom I was one, and 
made their confessions with such great contrition that no one 
could doubt that a great abundance of grace had descended from 
heaven into their hearts.* 1 2 

Eating souls, or devouring demons, was Catherine's playful 
term for converting sinners. "We must work for the honour 

1 Lcgen&u H. ix. 7-9 (§§ 274-276) ; CartUttoffo Frandsd de Maiavoltis, cap. 
tv., MS. est., pp. 446-453. Cf. Augusta Drane, II. pp. 61-66. 
1 IMf II. vii. 21-22 (§§ 239, 240). Cf. Processus, coL 1271. 

214 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



of God, even as the holy apostles did," she writes to Caterina 
dello Spedaluccio and Giovanna di Capo, two of her women who 
had been left behind in the city, and who repined at her long 
absence ; u after they had received the Holy Spirit, they 
separated from each other and from that sweet Mother Mary. 
Albeit it would have been their greatest delight to have stayed 
together, nevertheless they gave up their own pleasure, to seek 
the honour of God and the salvation of souls. This is the rule 
that we must adopt for ourselves. You are in Siena, and Cecca 
and the nonna are at Montepulciano. Fra Bartolommeo and 
Fra Matteo have been there, and will be again. Alessa and 
Monna Brant are at Monte Giovi, eighteen miles from 
Montepulciano ; they are with the Countess and Madonna Isa. 
Fra Raimondo and Fra Tommaso and Monna Tomma and Lisa 
and I are at the Rocca among evil-doers, and they are eating so 
many incarnate demons that Fra Tommaso says that he has bad 
pains. And, with all this, they cannot have enough ; their 
appetite increases, and they are finding work that is highly paid. 
Pray the Divine Goodness to give them big and sweet and bitter 
mouthfuls." l And to Lapa herself, the u nonna" at Monte- 
pulciano, she wrote : u You know, dearest mother, that I, your 
miserable daughter, have been placed on earth for nought else 
save the honour of God and the salvation of souls. To this 
my Creator has called me, I know that you are content that I 
should obey Him, I beseech you, if you think that 1 am 
staying longer than you would wish, to be content ; for I cannot 
do anything else. I believe that, if you knew the case, you 
yourself would send me hither, 1 am here to heal a great 
scandal, if I can. It is not the fault of the Countess ; and, 
therefore, you must all pray to God and the glorious Virgin that 
they send us a good result. Do you, Cecca and Giustina, drown 
yourselves in the blood of Christ crucified ; for now is the time 
to prove virtue in the soul." 2 

1 Letter u8 (175). 

* Letter 1 17 (167). Catherine's mother was by this time herself one of the 
Manlellate. A brief from Gregory XI grants special spiritual favours to Lapa, 

215 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

In fact, Catherine's prolonged sojourn in the contado was 
arousing political suspicions as well as perplexing and distressing 
her friends, and troubles of every kind seemed gathering round 
her. While she was at Sant* Antimo, the archpriest of Montal- 
cino, impelled thereto by his hatred of the Abbot Giovanni di 
Gano, laid complaints against both her and him before the govern- 
ment. Catherine at once despatched Pietro di Giovanni Ventura in 
her name to Siena with a letter to the Defenders and the Captain of 
the People, warning them not to set <c the servants of God ** 
against them by listening to slanderous tongues, She declared 
that the Abbot was u as great and perfect a servant of God as 
there has been in these parts for a very long time," and that 
they ought to reverence and assist him in his work. <c You 
complain every day that the priests and other ecclesiastics are not 
corrected, and now, when you find those who would fain correct 
them, you prevent it and raise complaints/' As to the accusa- 
tions against her and her company, they ought to turn a deaf car 
to them. ** We have sought and are continually seeking the 
salvation of your souls and bodies, not heeding any labour, but 
offering sweet and loving desires to God, with abundance of tears 
and sighs, to prevent the divine judgments falling upon you 
which we deserve for our iniquities. I have not enough virtue 
to do aught but what is imperfect ; but the others, who are 
perfect and attend only to the honour of God and the salvation 
of souls, are those who do it. But neither the ingratitude nor 
the churlishness of my fellow-citizens shall prevent me labouring 
even to death for your salvation. We shall learn from that 
sweet Paul, who says : Being reviled, we bless ; being persecuted, 
we suffer it ; we shall follow his rule. The truth shall be what 
will set us free. I love you more than you love yourselves ; 
and I love your pacific state and your freedom, even as you do. 
So do not believe that anything against it is being done, either by 
me or by any other of my company. We are put to sow the word 



Cecca, Lisa, and Alessa, " Siencsc widows, sisters of penance of the Blessed Dominic.' 
Cf. Tommaso Caffarini, Tractatm super information*, etc., p, 13. 

2l6 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



c. 



of God and to gather the fruit of souls. Every one is bound 
to be keen for his own art ; this is the art that God has given us ; 
we must, therefore, exercise it and not bury our talent, for then 
we should be worthy of a great rebuke, but employ it at every 
time and in every place and on /every creature. For God is no 
respecter of places or of creatures, but accepts holy and true 
desires* 1 came for nought else save to eat and taste souls, and 
draw them from the hands of the devils. For this I would lay 
down my life, if 1 had a thousand, and for this reason 1 shall go 
and stay according as the Holy Spirit shall direct/' l 

The murmuring continued while she was at Montepulciano 
and the Rocca. Madonna Rabe Tolomei, misliking that her 
son, Fra Matteo, should be lingering with Catherine among the 
hereditary enemies of her house, wrote that her daughter 
Francesca was very ill, and that Matteo must come instantly to JL» **]y 
her, on pain of her curse. 2 Others declared that Catherine and ' ~lJS^ 
Raimondo were plotting with the Salimbem against the State, 
and so wrought upon the Defenders that they despatched 
Tommaso di Guelfaccio with a letter ordering them to return to 
Siena, where there was some more important peace to be effected 
by her means. In her answer, a long and eloquent letter, 
Catherine rebukes their self-love and cowardly fear that leads 
them to mistrust those who are labouring indefatigably for their 
welfare and the peace of the State, at the same time craving 
pardon for her presumption in thus addressing them, and 
promising to obey their summons as soon as she can, 3 To Salvi 
di Pietro, a goldsmith in Siena who had weight with the govern- 
ment, she wrote that, in spite of the murmurs and suspicions 
that had arisen against her and Fra Raimondo, God had bidden 
her stay until her work was accomplished, and that she rejoiced 
in being thus persecuted. u Whether the demon likes it or not, 
I shall continue to exercise my life in the honour of God and the 
salvation of souls, for the entire world and particularly for my 
native city. The citizens of Siena do a most shameful thing in 

1 Letter 121 (201). * Letter 120 {344). 

8 Letter 123 (202). 

217 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



believing or imagining that we are engaged in weaving plots in 
the lands of the Salimbeni, or in any other place in the world. 
We are only plotting to defeat the devil, and to deprive him of 
the lordship that he has assumed over man by mortal sin, and to 
take hate from man's heart and pacify him with Christ crucified 
and with his neighbour. These are the plots that we are weaving, 
and that I wish to be woven by whoever is with me. I am sorry 
for our negligence, whereby we do this only in lukewarm fashion. 
And therefore I pray thee, sweet son, and do thou pray all the others, 
to pray to God that I may be more zealous in doing this and 
every holy work for His honour and the salvation of souls. 
Poor calumniated Fra Raimondo begs you to pray to God for 
him, that he may be good and patient." l 

Catherine was now, to her great sorrow, compelled to sever 
herself from her poverello calunniato. She sent Raimondo from the 
Rocca to the Pope : u with certain proposals," he says, u which 
would have been good for the holy Church of God, if they had 
been understood ; M and, at Rome, the General of the order 
compelled him to resume the office of prior of the Minerva, 
which he had already held under Urban V, whereby he was 
unable to return to Catherine. And, indeed, save for a few 
weeks, she was never again to be united, save in spirit, with her 
" most beloved and most dear father and son in Christ Jesus, 
given me by that sweet Mother Mary." For three years, his 
spiritual ministrations had been of the utmost consolation to her ; 
she could confide in him as in no other of her confessors ; and 
the parting was most bitter to her, although no word of complaint 
passed her lips. 

The anonymous author of the Miracoli tells us of a certain 
man, a friar apparently, whom he does not name, who had 
sought Catherine's friendship and wondered at her holy life, but 
whose devotion towards her changed into carnal love ; until at 
last, u when she never showed him any other semblance than 
what was pure and holy," his passion so maddened him that he 
attempted to take her life in church. '* A few days afterwards, 

1 Letter 122 (304). 
218 










THE ANGEL OF PEACE 

is religious left his order, threw aside the habit, and returned 
to his house in a village some way from Siena, and there he lived 
half desperate. And she, when she knew that he had gone away, 
prayed God for him that He would have mercy upon his souK 
But at last this man, persevering in his despair, hanged himself 
by the neck/* l One of Catherine's letters is directed to a 
religious who had left his order, a sweet and most loving letter 
throughout, ending : " If I were near at hand, I would know 
what demon has stolen away my little sheep, and what is the 
bond that keeps him bound, so that he does not return to the 
flock with the others. But I will strive to see it by means of 
continual prayer, and with this knife to cut the bond that holds 
him ; and then will my soul be happy/' 2 But this is probably 
another man. 

Among the correspondence of Catherine's disciples, we find 
two piteous letters addressed at this time to Neri di Landoccio 
at the Rocca. In one, the writer, in answer to an affectionate 
message conveyed to him by Gabriele Piccolomini, wonders that 
Neri remembers him, now that he has become " a vessel of 
contumely," and is ashamed to write to any servant or friend of 
God. u I was once thy very dear brother," he says in the other, 
u but now, for a long time, I have found myself dismissed and 
cancelled from the book in which I felt myself so sweetly fed. 
Do not wonder if I have not written to thee, or if I write to thee 
no more, until I return to gather the fruit of true obedience, of 
patience, and true humility. But I have so long wandered from 
the true way, that I almost judge it impossible for me ever to 
find or taste that food, or to reach a place of repose. And this 
has happened to me because I have kept the eye of my under- 
standing closed with darkness, and driven the light away from 

1 See Grotunelli, notes to the Leggcnda minortj pp. 354, 355, and cf. the 
different story in the Legenda t III. vi. 14 (§ 408). 

3 Letter 173 (134), An almost contemporary Latin version of a portion of 
this is in the Vatican, Cod. Vat, LjA 939. Cf Letter 192 (275), where Catherine 
assures Neri di Landoccio, who was always in dread about his own final persever- 
ance, " that God will not permit in thee what He permitted in that other." 

219 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



my soul. I have no more hunger or appetite for what is good/* 
The first is signed ** F. S." ; but, at the end of the second letter, 
he says : " I do not put my name here, because I know not if I 
still have a name." 

It has frequently been supposed that the author of these two 
letters was the unhappy man mentioned above ; but an examina- 
tion of the original manuscript, and a comparison with the 
authentic text of one of Catherine's own letters, make it quite 
certain that they were written by Fra Simone da Cortona, in one 
of that young friar's chronic fits of depression and spiritual 
misery. 1 Indeed, Catherine's letter to Simone is manifestly in 
answer to what he had written to Neri, Addressing him as 
M Dearest son without a name in Christ sweet Jesus/' she exhorts 
him to fight, "like a virile knight," against all obstacles and 
temptations, the battle in which we cannot win the victory 
" unless the light of most holy faith is in us ; and we cannot have 
this light, unless the earth of all terrene affection is drawn out 
from the eye of our understanding, and the cloud of self-love is 
cast away ; for it is that perverse cloud which utterly takes from 
us every light, spiritually and temporally/' She urges him, in all 
his troubles, to trust in the love of God, who permits these 
things for love of us— though sometimes we cannot see it. 
Through lack of light, because self-love has covered up the 
pupil of the eye of faith, " we believe ourselves to be cast off by 
God, and, because of this, we come to a confusion of mind, 
whereby we leave off doing our work, as though we think we 
are not accepted by God, and we come to weariness, and are 
insupportable to ourselves." But in the blood of Christ we 
shall learn that God does not let us be tried beyond our 
endurance. Let him embrace the Cross, and not abandon his 
prayers and spiritual exercises, but, without negligence or con- 
fusion, serve God and obey the rules of his order, and find the 
holy desire of the honour of God and the salvation of souls in 






1 They arc contained in the MS. of the Biblioteca Comunale of Siena, 
T. iii. 3, and printed by Grottanelli in the Lttttrtdtt discifoti, 7 and 8, 

220 



cruci t 
have your name, and I shall find my son again/' l 

In the meanwhile, after an ineffectual attempt on the part of 
Piero Gambacorti, at the beginning of March, to mediate between 
the Florentines and the Pope, the war had continued. In April, 
Hawkwood t with his whole company of English, passed over 
to the side of the league ; but this was counterbalanced by the 
defection of Rodolfo Varano, a few months later, who, when the 
Florentines refused to let him keep Fabriano for himself, threw 
up his command and entered the service of the Church. After 
some wavering, the Bolognese finally submitted to the Pope in 
May. 2 Francesco di Vico similarly left the league, and made 
peace on his own account with the Church. Foiled in an 
attempt to recover Talamone by force of arms, the Sienese 
avenged themselves by wasting the territory of the Count of 
Nola, upon which the Cardinal of Geneva sent a portion of his 
Bretons to attack Grosseto and ravage the Sienese Maremma. 
These dreaded mercenaries had shown themselves of little use 
in the open field, and, at the end of September, they were routed 
by Hawkwood, whom the Florentines had despatched to the aid 
of their allies. 

Trincio de* Trinci, Lord of Foligno and Gonfaloniere of the 
Church, the son-in-law of the Marquis of Ferrara (whose 
daughter, Jacoma d* Este, he had married), was vigorously 
carrying on hostilities in Umbrla against the adherents of the 
league, and kept harrying the Perugians with the ecclesiastical 
forces. Trincio and his brother Corrado were ferocious despots 
of the usual mediaeval type, but Catherine felt a special 
solicitude for them as the brothers of her beloved Madonna 

1 Letter 58 (86), but none of the printed editions (save the Bolognese of 
1492) has die true opening of the letter, which connects it with what Simone 
had written : Carhsimo fighuoto ttrtza norm in Crista dokt Gesk : as in the MS. 102 
of the Bibliotcca Nazionale V. E* of Rome, 

a Cf, Catherine's rather vague letter, 268 (200), to the Anziani and Consult 
and Gonfalonieri of Bologna, which seems to have been written in this year. 
The Bolognese, while acknowledging the papal sovereignty, retained their 
republican liberties. 

221 



1>^ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Biancina SalimbenL On September 14, the feast of the Exalta- 
tion of the Cross, she addressed a long letter to the two, on the 
love of God, shown above all in the mystery of the Redemption 
by the Crucifixion, concealed only from the eyes of the lovers 
of self, who are absorbed in the things of the world, or plunged 
into the mire of sensuality. While congratulating them on their 
fidelity to the Church, she urges them to a complete amendment 
of life. 1 Trincio had already received a similar admonition from 
the Franciscan tertiary and prophet, Tommaso Unzio, whom he 
had threatened to burn alive, and who had warned him that he 
would live as long as the great bell of the Commune remained 
intact. He was apparently sincerely moved, but had little time 
for amendment. At the approach of Count Lucio di Lando, 
one of the condottieri of the league, who was leading a 
Florentine force against Camerino, the enemies of the Trinci 
rose ; and, on September 28, as the great bell cracked when it 
sounded the signal to the conspirators, they broke into Trincio's 
palace, stabbed him to death, and hurled the still quivering body 
down from the balcony into the piazza below, where it remained 
for some days unburied. Corrado was at Anagni when this 
happened. He hurried to Spoleto to await his chance, and 
thence, on December 6, at the invitation of the people, entered 
Foligno. There was a general massacre of the enemies of the 
Trinci, and Corrado was declared lord of the city. 

u Keep close to Christ crucified/' Catherine had written to 
the widowed Jacoma d 1 Este, when the news of Trincio's death 
reached her, " and begin to serve Him with all your heart and 
with all your soul ; and bear with true patience the holy trial 
that He has laid upon you, not for hate, but for the love He 
bore to the salvation of his soul, upon which He had such mercy 
that He permitted him to die in the service of Holy Church. 
God, who loved him with a special love, wishing to ensure his 

1 Letter 253 ( 1 9+)- For the ingratitude of the Pope and the alleged 
treachery of the Cardinal of Geneva (to which Catherine distantly refers in the 
letter), cf. the Anon'mo Florentine $ pp. 337, 338, and Manni*s Cronkhttta d* lnctrto % 
p. 213. 

222 



THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



lvation, allowed him to be brought to this fate which was sweet 
for his souk And you should be the lover of his soul rather 
than of his body ; for the body is mortal and a finite thing, 
but the soul is immortal and infinite. The supreme Providence 
has provided for his salvation, while it gives you these sorrows 
to bear in order to have something for which to reward you in 
eternal life. I promise you, dearest sister, that, if you do so, God 
will even put you back into your temporal house, and you will 
ultimately return to your native land, Jerusalem, the vision of 
peace." * 

There were further negotiations for peace during the summer, 
which failed because of the excessive demands made by the Pope. 
After four months at Anagni, whither Gregory had gone at the 
end of May> the Florentine ambassadors returned and described 
the situation as hopeless. On the morning of October 6 (1377X 
the Signoria summoned a parliament, a general council of all 
the citizens to meet in the Palazzo Vecchio, to hear the report 
of the ambassadors. They found the whole assembly unanimous 
in declaring that the Pope's terms must be rejected and the war 
continued at all costs. Ristoro Canigiani, Catherine's zealous 
disciple, who spoke in the name of the College of the Ten of 
liberty, was as emphatic as Donato Barbadori himself, who was 
the speaker of the College of the GonfalonierL It was decided 
that the war should be carried on until a better peace could be 
obtained, that the interdict should be disregarded, and Mass said 
again throughout Florence and the contado. The clergy who had 
left the dominions of the Republic were ordered to return under 
the heaviest penalties, and all citizens bidden attend Mass, under 
pain of denunciation, no excuses being accepted. The Eight 
were confirmed in office for another year, and a new magistracy 
of ten appointed to levy fresh taxes upon the priests and religious, 

1 Letter 264 (32+). Cf. St. Antoninus, III. pp. 385, 386; Durante Doiio, 
htoria delta famlglia Trincl (Foligno, 1638), pp* 165-174 ; Pcllini, I. pp. 1 1 88— 
1 190. Corrado ruled Foligno until 1386, when lie died childless, and Ugolino, 
the son of Trincio and Jacoma, succeeded him, added Montefalco to his dominions, 
and in 1392 received investiture as papal vicar from Boniface IX, 

"3 





SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and to compel citizens to buy the goods of the churches. The 
defiance of the interdict was solemnly carried out on October 18. 
The Madonna of the Impruneta was brought into Florence and 
carried in procession, with the head of St. Zanobius, to the Piazza 
della Signoria, where Mass was sung at an altar set up on a 
platform, and one of the Augustiman friars of Santo Spirito 
preached an impassioned sermon to the crowd from the ringhiera 
of the palace. 1 

1 Gregory had, in fact, put himself into an impossible position. 
He had still further alienated the Sienese by imprisoning the 
ambassadors they had sent to him at Anagni. He had squandered 
the moneys of the Church upon the mercenaries, who were daily 
deserting his banners. We find him piteously writing to Queen 
Giovanna, on October 12, that, considering the great aid he has 
had from her, it is very grievous to him to burden her more, but 
Christ is his witness that he knows not to whom to have recourse 
save her. 2 On October 29, Bartolommeo di Smeduccio, with 
Count Lucio di Lando and Francesco da Matelica, utterly routed 
Rodolfo Varano, who had been reinforced by Bretons from the 
Pope, and pressed the pursuit up to the walls of Camerino. 
Several hundreds were killed, a thousand taken prisoners, and 
the captured banners brought in triumph to Florence and dragged 
through the streets. 

Like other weak men in a similar position, Gregory seems to 
have vented his anger upon those who would not ofFer any 
resistance. Whatever those proposals were, u useful for the 
Church, if they had been understood, 1 ' which Fra Raimondo 
brought with him from Catherine to the Pope, the latter would 
not accept them. He was exceedingly angry with Catherine, who, 
he apparently thought, ought to have gone to Florence or come 
to Rome, instead of labouring for souls in the Sienese contado, 
i>r, at least, to have done something that she had not done ; and 
Raimondo, especially during the Pope's absence at Anagni, found 
limself looked upon with much suspicion and disfavour. "Take 

1 Antmimo Fhrent'im, pp* 339-341 ; Cronkkttta <f Inter to, pp. 2 1 a, 213. 
9 Brief of October J 2, 1377. Pastor, Acta Inertia, doc, 2, 

224 






THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



comfort/' wrote Catherine to him ; '* God has provided for you, 
and will provide, and His providence will not fail you. In all 
things have recourse to Mary, embracing the holy Cross ; do not 
let yourself ever fall into confusion of mind, but sail over the 
tempestuous sea in the bark of the Divine Mercy." For her 
part, she humbly confesses that the Pope is right if he complains 
of her negligence, and promises to obey his commands more 
fully for the future. May God give His vicar grace to throw 
himself like a Iamb into the midst of the wolves, setting aside 
and putting away from himself the care of temporal things, to 
attend only to spiritual. u If he does this (which the Divine 
Goodness demands of him), the lamb will lord it over the 
wolves, and the wolves will become lambs ; and thus shall we 
■see the glory and praise of God, the welfare and peace of Holy 
Church. In no other way can it be done ; not with war, but 
with peace and benignity, and with* that holy spiritual punish- 
ment that a father should give to his son when he does 
wrong." 

Then, suddenly, Catherine turns to address the Pope directly. 
"Alas, alas, alas! most holy Father, would that you had done this 
the first day that you came to your own place ! I hope in the 
goodness of God and in your Holiness that you will do what is 
not done, and in this way both temporal and spiritual things will 
be gained back. This is what God bade you do (as you know 
that you were told), to bring about the reformation of the Church 
by punishing what was wrong and planting virtuous pastors, and 
that you should seize a holy peace with your undutiful children, 
in the best way and the one most pleasing to God that could be 
found ; so that you could then begin to restore, by lifting 
up the banner of the most holy Cross against the infidels. I 
believe that our negligence and not doing what can be done, not 
with cruelty nor with war, but with peace and kindness (always 
punishing those who have sinned, not according to their deserts, 
but according to what they can bear), are, perhaps, the cause of 
such great ruin and loss and irreverence towards Holy Church 
and her ministers having come upon us, as now is. And I fear 
15 225 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



lest, unless the remedy is applied of doing what has not been 
done, our sins may merit so much that we shall see worse disasters 
come ; such, I mean, that would distress us more than the loss 
of temporal things. Of all these evils and of your sorrows, I, 
wretched woman, am the cause, through my little virtue and 
through my great disobedience. Most holy Father, mitigate 
your anger against me with the light of reason and with truth — ■ 
not for my punishment, but for your anger. 1 To whom shall I 
have recourse, if you abandon me ? Who would succour me ? 
To whom can I fly, if you drive me away ? The persecutors are 
persecuting me, and I fly to you and to the other sons and 
servants of God, And if you abandon me, conceiving dis- 
pleasure and indignation against me, I will hide myself in the 
wounds of Christ crucified, whose vicar you are ; and I know 
that He will receive me, because He wills not the death of the 
sinner* And if I am received by Him, you will not drive me 
away ; nay, we shall stay in our place to fight manfully with the 
arms of virtue for the sweet Spouse of Christ, In her am I 
fain to end my life, with tears, with sweat, and with sighs, and to 
give my blood and the marrow of my bones. And if all the 
world should drive me away, I will not care, for I shall find rest, 
with weeping and with bearing much, on the breast of that sweet 
Spouse. Pardon me, most holy Father, for all my ignorance and 
for the offence I have committed against God and against your 
Holiness. Let the truth excuse me and set me free : Truth 
eternal I humbly ask your blessing." a 

Raimondo had had no opportunity of seeing the Pope in 
person until the latter's return to Rome, on November 7. He 
then appears to have satisfied him concerning Catherine's 
conduct, as we find her declaring herself consoled by letters she 
had received from the " dolce babbo M and himself. 3 She seems 
to have passed this Advent at the Rocca, much afflicted in body 

1 That is, "punish mc as much as you will, but do not be unreasonably 
angry." I adopt the reading miticate col lumc^ as in Aldo and Toresano, instead 
of the nutate of Gigli and Tommaseo. 

* Letter 267 (91), 8 Letter 272 (90). 

226 







THE ANGEL OF PEACE 



[ mind, but exulting in the new gift of writing which she 
qyed she had miraculously acquired. * Thou hast written \ ' 



and 

believed she had miraculously acqi 

to me/' she writes to Alessa, " that it seemed that God was 
compelling thee to offer up prayers to Him for me. Thanks be 
to the Divine Goodness which shows such ineffable love to my 
miserable souL Thou tellest me to write thee if I am suffering, 
and if 1 have my usual infirmities at this time ; to which I 
answer that God has provided wondrously, within and without. 
In the body He has done much for me this Advent, making me 
relieve my sufferings by writing ; and it is true that, through 
His goodness, they have been worse than they used to be, I 
wish suffering to be my food, tears my drink, sweat my ointment. 
1 wish suffering to make me fat, suffering to heal me, suffering to 
give me light, suffering to give me wisdom, suffering to clothe 
my nakedness, suffering to strip me of all love of self, spiritual 
and temporal. What I have suffered in being deprived of the 
consolations of all creatures has made me know my lack of 
virtue and my own imperfection, and the most perfect light of 
the sweet Truth, who provides and accepts holy desires and not 
creatures ; He has not withdrawn His goodness from me 
because of my ingratitude, my little light and knowledge ; but 
He has only looked upon Himself, who is supremely good. I 
beseech thee, by the love of Jesus Christ crucified, most beloved 
daughter mine, not to slacken prayer ; nay, redouble it, for I 
have greater need of it than thou seest ; and to thank the 
goodness of God for mc. And pray to Him that He may give 
me grace to give my life for Him/' l 

About the beginning of the new year, 1378, Catherine seems 
to have returned to Siena. But her stay there was again of brief 
duration. Hardly had she arrived when she received a papal j 
command, through Fra Raimondo, to go at once to Florence. ' j 

1 Letter 119 (178)- For her learning to write at this time, sec below, 
chapter x\i. 



227 



CHAPTER XI 
CATHERINE'S LAST EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

41 Non fu adcmpito il desideno mio di dare la vita per la verka, e per la dolce Sposa di 
Oiito. Ma to Sposo eterno mi fete una grande betFit. Onde io ho da piangere, perocche" 
taota e itata la moltkudine delle mie iniquiiadi, die Jo non merttai che il sangue mio 
dene vita, ne alluniinaase le menti accecate, ne pactRcasse il figliuolo col padre, nh 
murasse una pletra col iingue mio ncl corpo mistico della santa Chicta." — St, Catherine, 
letter 195 (96). 

In spite of the rupture of the negotiations in October and 
the violation of the interdict at Florence, neither party had 

entirely abandoned the hope of a compromise. The financial 
position of the Florentines was little better than that of the 
Church, and their unity was more apparent than real* Before 
Fra Raimondo left Tuscany, Niccolo Soderini had come to 
Siena and assured him that the majority of the Florentines 
sincerely desired peace, but were being prevented by the action 
of the minority who held the government. The remedy he 
suggested was that the religious citizens should make common 
cause with the captains of the Parte Guelfa, and deprive these 
few of their offices, as enemies to the public good, the u admon- 
ishing" of four or six of such persons being in his opinion 
sufficient. 1 The friar repeated this conversation to the Pope, 
but without any immediate result. 

Simultaneously with the Pope's return to Rome from Anagni, 
Friar John of Basle, an Augustinian hermit, came to Florence. 
In spite of the resolution previously taken not to discuss peace 
until Gregory had revoked all his processes, he was allowed 
to confer with the Eight, to whom he proposed that the 
Florentines should choose Piombino or Viterbo or Pisa, as a 
place for a general congress to be assembled, 2 The Pope's 
desperation at this time is vividly pictured in a brief to his 

1 Legend*, III. vL 18 {§ 422), 

* Gherariii, preface to the Anonlmo Florentine, p. 237. 
228 



CATHERINE'S EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 






nuncio at Naples. No tongue nor pen, he declares, can 
adequately express his urgent needs ; the provinces are in k/ 
anarchy > the mercenaries are clamouring for pay, he is tor- 
mented inwardly more than it is fitting to write, and Queen 
Giovanna herself seems beginning to favour the enemies of the 
Church. 1 His counsels had been further weakened by the 
loss of the loyal and strenuous Cardinal Pierre d'Estaing, who 
died in November. At the beginning of the new year, 1378, 
Gregory took the extreme step of appealing to Bernabo Viseonti, 
and sent the Bishop of Urbino to propose their own ally to the 
Florentines as arbitrator. He resolved simultaneously to win 
over the Parte Guelfa to his side, by means of Catherine. " It 
has been written to me/* he said to Fra Raimondo, "that, if 
Catherine of Siena goes to Florence, I shall have peace/* The 
friar answered that they were all ready, in obedience to his 
Holiness, to encounter martyrdom. lf I do not wish you to 
go/* replied the Pope, w because they would maltreat you ; but 
I do not believe that they will harm Catherine, for she is a 
woman and they hold her in reverence/* 2 At the Pope's 
bidding, Raimondo at once drew up the necessary bulls and 
credentials, and despatched them to Catherine, who, *Uike a 
daughter of true obedience,*' instantly started for Florence. 

The exact date is uncertain, but it was at least not later than 
the beginning of March, 1378, that Catherine thus, for the 
third time, found herself within the walls of Florence. It is 
clear that her mission on behalf of the Pope was less to the 
Commune or People as a whole, than to the Parte Guelfa. 
Following the hint that Niccolo Soderini had given Fra Rai- 
mondo, she was to use her moral influence in support of the 
measures adopted by the captains of the Party to prevent the 
extreme spirits on the opposite side from interrupting the peace 
negotiations, that had already begun, and to ensure that this 
time the Republic should seek peace with deeds no less than 

1 Brief to Pietro Raflini, dated Rome, December 26, 1377. Pastor, 
Gesehkhtti I. doc, 8. 

* Legend^ III, vi. 29 (§ 423). 

229 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



words. To avoid attracting notice and exciting anti-clerical feel- 
ings, none of her friars or priests, excepting Fra Santi, came 
with her. Besides Lisa and Giovanna di Capo, her only other 
companions appear to have been Neri and Stefano. When the 
last-named, in April or May, was obliged to return to Siena in 
obedience to his parents, his place was taken by Cristofano 
Guidini. 1 

This is one of the few episodes in Catherine's life concerning 
which we have external contemporary (and, for once, hostile) 
evidence. * ( In this year," writes Marchtonne Stefani, under 
1377 (the Florentines, it will be remembered, began their new 
year on March 25), ** it happened that there was in Florence 
a woman named Catherine, the daughter of Jacopo Benincasa, 
who, being held of most holy, pure, and good and chaste life, 
began to blame the opponents of the Church. Those who 
managed the Party welcomed her right gladly ; and among the 
others the chiefs in this affair were Niccolo Soderini, who had 
made a room for her in his house, in which she had sometimes 
stayed, Stoldo di Messer Bmdo Altwiti, and Piero Canigiani ; 
these were those who praised her to the skies. And it is true 
that she knew ecclesiastical matters, both by her natural talents 
and by what she had acquired, and she spoke and wrote very 
well. Piero Canigiani, too, was having a habitation built for 
her up at the foot of San Giorgio, and was collecting money 
from all his faction, men and women, buying stone and wood, 
and bringing it up there- Either maliciously by her own will, 
or introduced by the instigation of these men, she was brought 
many times to the meetings of the Party, to declare that it was 
right to admonish, in order that they might take measures to 
stop the war. By those of the Party she was reputed a 
prophetess, and by the others a hypocrite and a bad woman ; 
and many things were said of her, by some for treachery, and 






1 Cf. Letter 298 (254), and the letter from Stcfano, dated Siena, May 22 
1378, to Ncri di Landoccio, *' Florcntic apud sanctum Georgium," in Lettere del 
dhttpdiy 9. 

230 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

by others because they thought to speak well by speaking evil 
of her.° « 

As soon as Catherine arrived, she began to urge upon the 
principal citizens the need of making peace with the Pope. 
Niccold Soderini brought her to speak with the officials of the 
Parte Guelfa, to whom she declared that it was absolutely right 
to deprive of their office those who were attempting to prolong 
the war, as such men were not rulers, but destroyers of the city. 
Among the captains of the Party who held office from March 
20 to May 20 of this year were Stoldo Altoviti, Ristoro Cani- 
giani, Tommaso Soderini, Alessandro Buondelmonti, and Benedetto 
Peruzzi, They readily agreed to put all possible pressure upon 
the Signoria to work for peace t " not only with words, but with 
deeds.'* Unfortunately, they needed no instigation from her 
to M admonish" citizens whom they professed to consider ob- 
noxious. The complaint had already been raised that it was 
less dangerous in Florence to blaspheme God than to blaspheme 
the captains of the Party. The more violent of their adherents 
seized the first opportunity for each to admonish his private 
enemy as a Ghibelline, H even if he were more Guelf than 
Charlemagne/' 2 

Among the Florentines who at this time became Catherine's 
disciples, two need special notice : Barduccio di Piero Canigiani 
and Giannozzo di Benci Sacchetti. Barduccio, whom we have 
already mentioned as one of the u adopted sons" of Giovanni 
dalle Celle, was a consumptive youth, who now clung to 
Catherine heart and soul, entered her spiritual family as one of 
her secretaries, and never again left her. c< He was young in 
years, 1 ' writes Fra Raimondo, " but old in life ; by birth of the 
city of flowers, but adorned with all the flowers of virtue. The 
sacred virgin loved him, it seemed to me, more tenderly than the 

1 Lib. IX. rubr. 773, March ion tie's statement, about Canigiani afterwards 
adopting the subscriptions for his own use, is obviously a partisan falsehood. 
After Catherine's death, even this adherent of the Eight practically acknowledges 
her sanctity. Uid. f Lib, XL rubr. 866. 

8 0M, Lib. IX. rubr, 767, 788. 

2JI 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

others, and this, I think, was because of his great purity of dis- 
position/' l Giannozzo, the brother of Franco Sacchetti, was a 
converted spendthrift and wastrel ; a poet of no mean order in 
the vernacular, whose /audi were being sung by the people in 
their processions, when deprived of the sacrifice of the Mass by 
the papal interdict. One of these compositions, O divina caritd, 
reads like a rendering into verse of a letter of Catherine's own ; 
another, beginning Maria do/ce che fai y frequently attributed to 
others, is a classic of its kind, 2 He had been one of those young 
men who had joined the confraternities that met at Fiesole at the 
beginning of the interdict ; and, although Marchionne Stefani 
denounces him (in the light of later events) as u a man of evil 
sort and a hypocrite/* there can be no doubt of the sincerity of his 
conversion- Unfortunately, he continued to fish in the troubled 
waters of political intrigue, and at the same time to assail his 
political opponents with poetical lampoons, and his subsequent 
fate was one of the many tragedies that saddened Catherine's 
life. 

In the meanwhile, Sarzana had been chosen as the place of the 
peace conference, under the presidency of Bernabo Visconti, 
The Pope was represented by Jean de la Grange, the Benedictine 
Cardinal of Amiens, and two other French prelates of the Curia- 
Venice, France, Naples, and the adherents of the league sent 
ambassadors ; Otho of Brunswick attended in person. The 
Florentine procurators— Pazzino Strozzi, Alessandro dell' 
Antella, and Benedetto Albert!, with two of the Eight, Andrea 
Salviatt and Simone Peruzzi — had started on March 3- All 
seemed going well. On March 20, Strozzi, Alessandro 
dell' Antella, and Andrea Salviati, came back to Florence to 
confer with the Signoria, returning to the Cardinal and Bernabo 
on the 22nd. 8 The delegates had already agreed on the amount 

1 Legenda, III. i, 1 1 {§ 341). 

J Cf. F, Palermo, Rime di Dante Afighieriedi Giannozzo Sacchetti f, pp. ciiL-cxxx. ; 
Marchionne Stefani, Lib. X. rubr. 821 ; O. Gigli, Sermoni Evangetki e Lettert 
di Franca Sacchetti, doc. I. 

8 Anonimo Fierentim f p. 351* 

232 



CATHERINES ExMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

of the indemnity (less than half what the Pope had originally 
demanded), and were on the point of coming to terms on the 
other conditions. 

On the evening of March 27, two hours after sunset, there 
came a knocking at the Porta San Frediauo, and a cry ; Open 
quickly to tfu messenger of peace. The guards drew back the bolts, 
but saw no one. But the cry spread through the city ; The olive 
has come, the peace is made. Men rushed from their houses 
repeating it, carrying torches, and began to illuminate the city, 
The priors, having no tidings, issued a proclamation bidding 
every one go quietly home, and not leave his house again till 
the morning, A few days later, the news reached Florence that 
Pope Gregory had died at that very hour. 1 Men said that it was 
the Angel of God that had come ; but was it not rather the 
Pontiff's own unquiet ghost, seeking a reconciliation with the 
city that he had cast out of the bosom of the Church ? 

For the first time for seventy-four years, a new Pope was 
elected in the Vatican, on April 8. Couriers rode into Florence 
with the news that the Roman cardinal, Francesco Tebaldeschi, 
had been raised to the papacy/ 2 Quickly followed the official 
notification that not Tebaldeschi, but u the Lord Bartolommeo of 
Ban H had been made Sovereign Pontiff, and had taken the title 
of Urban VI, What this meant, and what had happened, will 
be seen' presently. 

On the news of Gregory's death, the papal representatives 
left Sarzana, the peace negotiations having thus come to an end 
without result. In May, the Florentines sent eight ambassadors, 
two from each quarter of the city, to honour the new Pope Urban, 
Four of these envoys, Donato Barbadori, Alessandro dell' Antella, 
Pazzino Strozzi, and Stoldo Altoviti, together with Filippo 
Corsini (the brother of the Cardinal of Florence), were further 
named as procurators of the Republic to conclude peace with the 
Holy See, 

1 A 'nonimo Florentine, p. 352 ; Manni's Cronhhctta f Ineerto 9 p r 215 ; His tor 14 
Sozomeni Pistoricmu (Rcr. It. Script., xvi.), col. 1 104, 
8 Qronaca di Ser No/hi, Corazzini, / Ciompi, p. 7. 

233 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIEXA 



% 



Rumours of strange movements in Rome and in the Sacred 
College had doubtless already reached Catherine from Raimondo, 
who represented Pedro de Luna as the chief factor in the election 
of Urban VI. Since the death of Pierre d'Estaing, the Cardinal 
of Aragon had become Catherine's chief hope among the great 
prelates of the Curia. To him the Saint now wrote, u with 
desire of seeing you a sweet lover of the truth which sets us free," 
giving him a pitiful picture of the spiritual state of Florence 
under the violated interdict; where "Jthe religious and secular 
clergy, and especially the mendicant friars, who have been put by 
the sweet Spouse of Christ to announce and proclaim the truth, 
forget that truth and deny it from the pulpit. Not only have 
they broken the interdict, but they advise the others to celebrate 
with a good conscience, and the laity to attend, and they say that 
whoso does not do this commits a sin. They have plunged the 
people into such great heresy that it is pitiful even to think of it, 
not only to behold it. And they are led to do and speak thus by 
the servile fear of men and human pleasure, and by the desire of 
offerings/* u I would have you enamoured of the truth, sweet 
father mine ; and, in order that the holy beginning that you made 
(when, knowing that the Spouse of Christ had need of a good 
and holy pastor, you exposed yourself fearlessly to everything for 
this) may come to effect with perseverance, 1 beseech you to keep 
close to Christ on earth, and sound this truth continually into his 
ears ; so that he may reform his Spouse in the truth. With a 
manful heart, bid him reform her with holy and good pastors, in 
reality and in truth, not only in the sound of words. Let him 
then, for the love of Christ crucified, with severity and with 
sweetness, root out vices and plant virtues, according to his power. 
And may it please him to pacify Italy, so that afterwards, in a 
goodly company, we may uplift the banner of the Cross, and 
make a sacrifice of ourselves to God for love of the truth." l 

1 I follow the text of the Palatine MS, 56, as the printed editions of this 
letter (Gigli, 25 ; Tommaseo, 284) arc corrupt. Catherine's denunciat 



I the mendicant frurs is interesting, as showing that the Fran 
some of tJiem, look the popular lide, even Iglifigf the Pope. 

234 









CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 



The violation of the interdict had, from the outset, been 
repugnant to the religious instincts of the majority of the 
Florentines, and, now that Gregory was dead, Catherine persuaded 
the Signoria to propitiate his successor by revoking their decree 
for the compulsory celebration of the offices of the Church. " It 
seems to me that the first streaks of dawn are beginning to 
come,' 1 she wrote to William Flete, " for our Saviour has illumined 
this people so that they are delivered from the perverse darkness 
of the offence they committed by having Mass celebrated by 
force. Now, by the divine grace, they are observing the interdict 
and beginning to be obedient to their father." l And she wrote 
at the same time, in a similar strain, to Alessa, who had not 
accompanied her to Florence : u Have special prayers offered in 
the monasteries, and tell our prioress to bid all her daughters 
make special prayer for peace, so that God may have mercy 
upon us, and that I may not return without it ; and for me, her 
wretched daughter, that God may give me grace to be always a 
lover and proclaimer of the truth, and to die for that truth/' 2 

But, in Florence itself, the dissensions were growing daily 
more intense, and a complete rupture between the Parte Guelfa 
and the Signoria seemed imminent. As the prospects of peace 
drew near, the power of the adherents of the Eight decreased, 
and the captains of the Party waxed more arrogant and vigorous 
in their admonitions. And in the background, scarcely heard or 
heeded by either faction, were sounding the ominous rumblings 
of a coming storm ; the artisans and unemployed of the lowest 
orders, the Ciompi^ were exchanging fierce and secret oaths, 
preparing the general uprising that was to overwhelm the whole 
city a few weeks later. 

The Parte Guelfa was guided by a small group of fanatical 
and overbearing partisans, among whom Lapo da Castiglionchio, 
Bettino Ricasoli, and Piero degli Albizzi were the most prominent ; 
they swayed the voting at the meetings where it was decided to 
admonish such or such individuals ; and the sentences which the 
captains, at their instigation, pronounced were published by night : 
1 Letter 227 (126). a Letter 277 (181). 

*35 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



" either to avoid tumult, or to increase the alarm by assuming the 
appearance of a secret tribunal/' 1 Even men of such high 
character as Ristoro Canigiani and Stoldo Altoviti pursued the 
same policy. From the outset, Catherine had fallen into the 
hands of this faction, which by tradition claimed to be that of the 
Church, and it is clear that its more unscrupulous members were 
simply ma king her a jfl fiLfor their private ends, dragging her 
name into their campaign of excluding their own personal enemies 
from office. Niccolo Soderini*s well-meant suggestion to Fra 
Raimondo, and Catherine's own unfortunate speech to the officials 
of the Party, were, indeed, bearing bitter fruit. It was in vain 
that she sent Stcfano Maconi to individual members to plead for 
moderation, in vain that she herself implored them not to pervert 
the means of securing peace to a cause of civil war, in thus giving 
vent to their own hates. The number of those who, during 
these months that Catherine was in Florence and Ristoro 
Canigiani held office as one of the captains of the Party, found 
themselves excluded from office, without explanation or appeal, 
was daily increasing. All through March and April the work 
went on. At length, on April 22, the captains took the extreme 
step of admonishing Giovanni Dini, the powerful member of 
the Eight, and, on April 30, among seven other prominent 
citizens, they admonished Piero Donati, who had been drawn as 
one of the priors, and Maso di Neri, who was one of the Twelve. 2 
This brought things to a crisis. 

In the new Signoria that came into office on May I, 1378, 
Salvcstro de* Medici — a strong Guelf, but intensely obnoxious to 
the Party — was Gonfaloniere of Justice. While openly declaring 
his intention of overthrowing the prepotency of the faction, he was 
ardently in favour of peace with the Church, and it was, perhaps, 
on his initiative that the ambassadors to Rome were empowered 

1 Capponi, Storia delln Repubbrua di Firenze, II. p. 2. Cf. Rodolico, La Demo- 
frazJa Fhrcnthui> pp + 171-176. 

2 Amnltm Fiorcntino y pp. 351-353 ; Ammirato, I. 2, pp. 713, 714 ; Lrgrnda, 
III. vi. 30, 3 1 (§§ 424, 425), where Fra Raimondo seems to imply that Catherine 
approved the admonishing of Giovanni Dini. 

236 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

to make terms* Not daring to admonish him, and relying upon 
the fact that five of his colleagues were their adherents, the 
captains of the Party offered to meet him half-way, by promising 
that in future no one should be admonished upon mere suspicion, 
unless he were really a Ghibelline, nor any name put to the 
ballot for admonishing more than three times. These pledges 
were flagrantly violated a few weeks later (Ristoro Canigiani, be 
it noted, being no longer in office), when Bettino Ricasoli, who 
was then proposto of the captains, wishing to admonish two of 
Salvestro's adherents, had the doors of the palace locked and the 
voting repeated twenty-two times until he had his will. The 
more violent spirits in the faction, led by Lapo da Castiglionchio, 
proposed to surprise the Palazzo Vecchio and reform the State in 
favour of their party. Piero degli AJbizzi, however, induced 
them to postpone the execution of this treacherous plan until the 
feast of St John, when the Signoria would go to see the palio 
run, the palace would be deserted, and the city would swarm 
with men from the contado. Then would be the time to bring 
out the old lily standard of the Guelfs, occupy the palace with 
arms, and raise the whole city to the cry of Viva il Popoto e la 
Parte Guelfa. 

But they were anticipated. On June 1 8, Salvestro, being 
proposto of the Signoria for that day, assembled the Colleges and 
the Council of the People, the former in the Palazzo Vecchio, 
the latter in the adjoining palace of the Captain, and presented 
a petition to the Signoria, praying that all the provisions against 
the magnates of the city and contado, especially the Ordinances 
of Justice, should be renewed and enforced. It was vigorously 
opposed in the Colleges, and Buonaccorso di Lapo, speaking for 
the Twelve, denounced the proposal as altogether inopportune. 1 
Salvestro then rushed down to the palace of the Captain, and 
appealed to the Council of the People against his colleagues. A 
furious tumult arose in the council chamber. A shoemaker, 
Benedetto di Carlone, laid violent hands on Carlo Strozzi : 
11 Carlo, Carlo, the matter will go otherwise than thou thinkest, 
1 Anonhno Florentine, pp. 243, 504. 

237 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

and your predominance must be utterly destroyed/' Benedetto 
Alberti called from the window to the crowd in the piazza : 
a Shout, all of you, Viva il Popolo ! " 

The alarm spread through the city ; all the shops were shut ; 
J the people began to arm. The captains of the Parte Guelfa and 
their adherents, nobles and popolani alike, had secretly armed, 
and were assembled in the palace of the Party to take measures 
against the Gonfaloniere. Among those present were Lapo da 
Castiglionchio, Piero degti Albizzi, Niccolo Soderini, the hated 
Bartolo Siminetti, and both Piero and Ristoro CanigianL But, 
hearing the tumult, they quietly dispersed and returned to their 
own homes. Overborne by the clamour, the Colleges passed the 
measure ; and, on the following day, but by a very narrow 
margin^ it was approved by the requisite two-thirds in the 
Council of the People and the Council of the Commune. 

For three days things hung thus in suspense, the city guarded 
at night, the shops closed, while the Signorla, the representatives 
of the Guilds, and the captains of the Party engaged in fruitless 
negotiations. On Tuesday, June 22, the u antevigU n of St. John! 
the Guilds rose in arms, and came with their banners into the 
piazza, shouting : Viva il Popolo t The Signoria empowered the 
magistrates and Colleges to reform the city and abolish the un- 
popular laws of the Parte Guelfa ; but, in the meanwhile, led by 
the men of the Guild of the Furriers with their banner, the 
populace had begun to take vengeance on their own account. 
Instigated, if not actually by the government, at least by those 
who had been admonished, they assailed the houses of the leaders 
of the Parte Guelfa. The houses of Lapo da Castiglionchio and 
his family overlooking the Ponte Rubaconte were first attacked, 
Messer Lapo himself escaping into the Casentino disguised as a 
friar, The houses of Carlo Strozzi near the Porta Rossa, of 
Bartolo Siminetti in Mercato Nuovo, of the Albizzi near San 
Piero Maggiore, of Filippo Corsini, and others, were successively 
looted and given to the flames. Then the mob passed over the 
Arno, and, shouting abuse against u the hypocrite Niccolo and his 
blessed Catherine/* destroyed the houses of Niccolo and Tommaso 

238 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

Soderini near the Ponte alia Carraia. At the instigation of their 
neighbours, the Mannelli, who had been admonished while 
Kistoro was a captain of the Party, they next looted and burnt 
the houses of Piero and Ristoro Canigiant near S. Felicita. The 
house of Donato Barbadori, who had no share in the misdeeds of 
the Parte Guelfa and was absent on the service of the State, shared 
the same fate. A horde of roughs broke open the prisons and 
released the prisoners, invaded the monastery 4 of the Angeli where 
many of the citizens had placed their goods for safety, and sacked 
it, killing two lay-brothers. This, however, was more than the 
instigators of the riot had bargained for, and, seeing the work of 
vengeance accomplished and the mob proceeding to fresh excesses, 
they prevailed upon the Signoria to send soldiers with orders to 
hang the first five looters taken in each quarter, choosing Flemings 
or other foreigners by preference, as a warning to the rest. 1 This 
was done, and the tumult abated. 

But, in the meanwhile, for one brief, ineffable moment, 
Catherine had tasted in anticipation the longed-for joys of 
martyrdom — only to be bitterly disillusioned. A band of armed 
rioters, probably at the instigation of the more embittered victims 
of the Parte Guelfa, rushed from the sack of the houses of the 
Canigiani, declaring that they would burn her alive or cut her 
into pieces. She was apparently alone with Neri, Barduccio, and 
Cristofano, and with her women, in the little house on the hillside 
of San Giorgio. Those who kept the house, fearing for their own 
safety, bade her and her followers leave them : 4t But she, con- 
scious of her own innocence and suffering gladly for the cause of 
Holy Church, was in no wise moved from her wonted constancy ; 
nay, smiling and encouraging her companions, imitating her 
Divine Bridegroom, she went to a place where there was a garden ; 
and there, after some words of exhortation to them, she gave 
herself to prayer/ 1 Soon the men broke in, brandishing their 
weapons, and shouting : " Where is Catherine ? M She went to 

1 For this "Tumulta degli Ammoniti," cf. Marchionnc Stefani, Lib. X. 
rubr. 792-795 ; Ammirato, I t 2, pp. 717-721 ; Gino Capponi (the elder), 
Tumulto <//* Ciompi, pp. 234-242 ; Anonimo Fiorentino > pp. 358-360. 

239 



•fr 






CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 



AH this I tell you, not that you may receive bitterness, but that 
you may feel ineffable delight with sweetest gladness ; and that 
you and I may begin to bewail my imperfection, since so great 
bliss was prevented by my sins. Now how blessed would my 
soul have been, if, for the most sweet Spouse and for love of the 
blood and for the salvation of souls, I had given my blood ! I 
will say no more about this matter : I leave this and other things 
to Cristofano to say ; I would only tell you to beseech Christ on ^V^ 
earth not to postpone the peace because of what has happened, 



but to conclude it the more promptly, in order that he may then 
carry out the other great deeds that he has on hand for the 
honour of God and for the reformation of Holy Church* There 
has been no change because of this ; on the contrary, the city for 
the present is pacified, most fittingly. Tell him to have pity and 
compassion upon these souls, who are in great darkness ; and tell 
him to deliver me speedily from prison ; for, unless peace is 
made, it seems that I cannot get out ; and I would fain come 
then to Rome to taste the blood of the martyrs, and to visit his 
Holiness, and to find myself again with you to narrate the 
admirable mysteries that God has wrought in these times, with 
gladness of mind and with joy of heart, with increase of hope, 
with the light of most holy faith. 11 1 

This was probably written on the day of the tumult, imme- 
diately after the Signoria had* for the present, put down the 
rising with practically no loss of life, save of those who had been 
executed by the law. €< But, albeit that tumult had for the time 
ceased," writes Raimondo, "the holy virgin and her fellowship 
were by no means safe ; nay, such great fear had come upon all 
the inhabitants of the city that, even as in the time of the martyrs, 
there was no one who would receive her into his hou se. Her 
spiritual sons and daughters advised her to return to tfte city of 
Siena ; but she answered them that she could not depart from 

1 Letter 295 (96) ; in the Harleian and Casanatensc MSS. Raimondo' 3 
account of the affair, LegfnJa, III. vi. 32, 33 (§ § 426, 427), is clearly based 
upon what Cristofano told him, slightly coloured, perhaps, by an unconscious 
desire to make it resemble the scene in the Garden of Olives in the fourth GospcL 






&*~ 




16 



241 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



k 



the Florentine territory until the peace was announced between 
the father and his children, for so, she said, she had as a command 
from the Lord. When they heard this, not daring to contradict 
her, they found a good man, one that feared God, who without 
any dread received her into his house, but secretly, on account of 
the fury of the people and of wicked men." l This good man 
was almost certainly the tailor, Francesco di Pippino, in whose 
little house, in the Piazza del Grano, Catherine thus found shelter 
for a few days, Her potent friends, the Canigiani, the Soderini, 
the Altoviti, had fled or were in hiding. On the day after the 
tumult, June 23, the official vengeance of the government com- 
pleted the violence of the mob. All the laws in favour of the 
Parte Guelfa were annulled, and all those admonished by the 
captains of the Party since 1357 were declared eligible for office 
under certain conditions. The ordinances excluding magnates 
from all offices and councils, excepting those of the Parte Guelfa 
and the Council of the Podesta and Commune, were confirmed. 
Lapo da Castiglionchio was declared a rebel and put under ban, 
and various lighter sentences passed upon the others. Carlo 
Strozzi was banished from Florence for five years, and he and 
his descendants declared magnates. Tommaso Soderini was 
deprived of every office for life ; Niccolo Soderini was put under 
bounds at thirty miles from Florence. Ristoro Canigiani was 
declared a magnate, while Piero Canigiani was excluded from 
office for ten years. 

Nevertheless, the whole city was full of alarm. There was 
no festa or palio on the feast of St. John. And for the rest of 
the month the artisans and merchants did not open their shops, 
the citizens dared not lay down their arms, and strict guard was 
kept throughout Florence, night and day. The presence of 
Catherine seemed useless, and could only lead to fresh scandal. 
After a few days, she and her disciples left the city, and went to 
what Raimondo calls u a certain solitary place, outside the city, 
but not outside its territory, where hermits were wont to dwell," 
This is usually supposed to have been Vallombrosa, in the 
1 Ugenda f III. vL 34. (§ 4.28), 
242 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 



Casentino, where Giovanni dalle Celle and others were. It is 
stated, rather questionably, that Niccolo Soderini accompanied 
them thither. 

The new Signoria, which entered office on July i, with Luigi 
di Piero Guicciardini as Gonfalon iere of Justice, was judged 
by the people as composed of " peaceful and quiet men, who 
loved the repose of the city and their fellow-citizens. 1 * They 
entered upon their duties quietly, without the ringing of bells, 
the ceremony of installation being performed in the hall of 
council, instead of on the ringhiera. They at once ordered the 
citizens to lay down their arms, the contadini to leave the city on 
pain of death, the shops to be opened, the barricades pulled down, ^ 

and every one to go about his business, " And the Signoria .&* \ 
was obeyed in everything, and, in a very few days, it was all done. \i^Tv^ 



It seemed that there had never been any novelty in Florence, and 
every one commended the Signoria and the Colleges for the 
measures they had taken. The city passed every day from good 

to better, and it remained in repose and in quiet, without any 



Y 



murmuring, for ten days," l Under these circumstances, it 
seemed safe for Catherine and her company to return to Florence, 
where, says Fra Raimondo, she stayed at first secretly, u because 
of those who now held sway, who seemed to hate her exceed- 
ingly," but afterwards openly, waiting in ardent longing for the 
peace to be concluded between the Republic and the Church. 

From Florence she now wrote her first letter to Pope Urban, 
whom, as we saw, she had known at Avignon, and with the 
harsher side of whose character she was probably already 
acquainted : w with desire of seeing you founded in true and 
perfect charity, in order that, like a good shepherd, you may lay 
down your life for your little sheep. 1 ' She urges him to apply 
himself to the reformation of the Church. c * Most holy Father, 
God has set you as shepherd over His little sheep of all the 
Christian religion ; He has set you as the cellarer to deal out 
the blood of Christ crucified, whose vicar you are ; and He has 
time in which iniquity abounds more than it 



you 



lquity 
1 Gino Capponi (the elder), ftp. cit. t pp. 245-247. 

H3 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

has done for ages, in your subjects, in the body of Holy Church, 
and throughout the whole of Christendom, And, therefore, you 
have the greatest need of being founded in perfect charity, with 
the pearl of justice. O sweetest father, the world can no more 
endure ; the vices so abound, and especially in those who are 
placed in the garden of Holy Church as sweet-smelling flowers to 
give the odour of virtue, that we see them so full of wickedness 
that they are polluting all the world. Alas ! where is purity of 
heart and perfect chastity, whereby they should make the incon- 
tinent become continent by their virtue ? Instead of this, the 
continent and the pure ofttimes taste impurity through their un- 
cleanness. Alas ! where is the largesse of charity and the care of 
souls, and the distributing to the poor, for the welfare of the 
Church and for their necessity ? You know well that they do 
the contrary. Wretched that 1 am ! With grief I tell you that 
the sons of the Church nourish themselves with the substance 
that they receive through the blood of Christ, and they are not 
ashamed to barter and gamble it with those most sacred hands 
that have been anointed by you, the vicar of Christ — not to 
speak of the other miseries which they commit. Alas ! where is 
the profound humility with which they should confound their own 
sensual pride — the pride with which, with great avarice, they 
commit simony, buying benefices with presents or with flattery 
or with money, decked out in vain and dissolute fashion, not 
like ecclesiastics, but worse than laymen ? Alas, sweet babbo 
mine, remedy this for us ; comfort the agonized desires of the 
servants of God, who are dying with grief and cannot die. They 
are waiting with great desire for you, like a true pastor, to set 
hand to the correction, not only in word but in deed, letting the 
pearl of justice glow forth from you united with mercy, and, 
without any servile fear, to correct in truth those who are fed at 
the breast of this holy Spouse, those who are made ministers of 
the blood." 

But, for this reformation of the Church, let him begin with 
the Sacred College itself, choosing a band of holy and fearless men 
for cardinals, who will aid him in his arduous task and correct the 

244 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 



laity by the example of their own virtuous lives. And let him, 
without any delay; receive back the Florentines and their allies 
into the fold. Through the Divine Goodness, no great evil has 
resulted from the recent tumult. His children are pacified and 
asking him for mercy ; and, if they do not seem to be asking it 
in the way he would wish, let him grant it all the same, and they 
will prove more faithful than the others. " Alas, my babbo, I 
am fain to stay here no longer. Do with me afterwards what you 
will. Grant this grace and this mercy to me, miserable wretched 
woman, who am knocking at your door. My father, do not deny 
me the crumbs that 1 am asking for your children. 11 l 

Urban was no longer at Rome, but at Tivoli, alone with the 
four Italian cardinals : Corsini,Orsini, Brossano, and Tebaldeschi. 
Circumstances had made it imperative upon him to make peace 
with Florence on whatever terms could be obtained, and the 
ambassadors, especially Barbadori and Filippo Corsini, in spite of 
the treatment they had received, were doing their duty by the 
Republic. The ntw Signoria, no less than the Pope, was resolved 
to make peace without further delay, without haggling over the 
conditions. 

In the meanwhile, a strange lull seemed to have fallen upon 
Florence. The priors, ardently pursuing their work of pacifying 
the city within and without, seem to have received no warning 
that anything was stirring beneath the surface. But the lowest_ 
dre gs of the popula ce, still expecting to be punished for what they 
had done in the recent tumults, were holding secret meetings, 
taking fearful oaths, preparing to rise against the burgher 
government ; and those of the upper classes who had been 
admonished, not content with what they had achieved, were 
stirring them up. Not the slightest rumour of what was 
preparing had as yet reached the Signoria. 2 

; 

curio 
Santa 
ritta, 



1 Letter 291 (15), 

3 Cf. Gino Capponi (the elder), o/>. cii. % pp. 251-25 5. In a passage, 
curiously suggestive of Catherine, he says : " Per lo peccato commesso contro I 
Santa Chiesa di Dio .... pcrmisc Iddio dare questa disciplina a quest* nostra 
cittA, come apprcsso si dira." 

245 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



At last, on the afternoon of Sunday, July 1 8, a messenger 
rode into Florence through the Porta San Piero Gat toli no, bearing 
a branch of olive in his hand, bringing letters from the Pope and 
the ambassadors, announcing that the terms of peace were 
arranged. The olive was fastened up at a window of the 
Palazzo Vecchio, and the great bell of the tower pealed out over 
the city, summoning the citizens to a parliament. " O dearest 
children, " wrote Catherine to Sano di Maco and her other 
disciples at Siena, " God has heard the cry and the voice of His 
servants, that for so long a time have cried out in His sight, 
and the wailing that for so long they have raised over their 
children dead. Now are they risen again : from death are they 
come to life, and from blindness to light. O dearest children, 
the lame walk, and the deaf hear, the blind eye sees, and the 
dumb speak, crying with loudest voice : peace , peace, peace ; with 
great gladness, seeing those children returning to the obedience 
and favour of their father, and their minds pacified. And, even 
as persons who now begin to see, they say : Thanks be to Thee, 
Lord, who hast reconciled us with our Holy Father. Now is the 
Lamb called holy, the sweet Christ on earth, where before he was 
called heretic and Patarin. Now do they accept him as father, 
where hitherto they rejected him. I wonder not thereat, for the 
cloud has passed away and the serene weather come. Rejoice, 
rejoice, dearest children, with a sweetest weeping of gratitude 
before the supreme and eternal Father ; not calling yourselves 
contented with this, but praying Him soon to lift up the banner 
of the most holy Cross. Rejoice, exult in Christ sweet Jesus ; 
let our hearts burst at the sight of the largesse of the infinite 
goodness of God. Now is made the peace, in spite of those who 
i would fain have prevented it. Defeated is the infernal demon/* l 

The whole city was wild with joy. An exultant crowd filled 
the piazza, while the priors came out on to the ringhiera of the 

1 Letter 303 (246). Catherine is writing on Sunday, July 18. Another 
messenger of peace had arrived on the previous evening : u Sabato sera giunse 
T ulivo a un* ora di notte ; e oggi a vespero giunse P altro." Cf. Gi Capponi, 
op. cit.y pp. 255, 256, and the Anontmo Florentine^ pp. 365, 366. 

246 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 



palace, to the sound of music and salvos, and their notary read 
aloud the letters announcing the agreement that had been made 
between the Pope and the Republic. All Florence was illu- 
minated, and the rejoicings were prolonged into the night. But 
on the next day, July 19, like a holt from the blue, a rumour 
reached the Signoria that the whole State was on the brink of 
a precipice. Several arrests were made, and, at nightfall, one 
Simoncino, called Bugigatto, being examined under torture in the 
chapel of the palace* confessed that t here was a plot for a 
general uprising of the lowest orders on the following morning. 
His cries were overheard by an artisan, who was mending the 
clock of the palace and was in the secret, and he gave the alarm. 
On the morning of Tuesday, July 20, the whole populace 
was up in arms, and the disastrous revolution of the Ciompi— the 
unskilled workers who, having no guild of their own, were 
deprived of political rights — burst, like a tidal wave, over 
Florence. 

The chief question at issue was the right of association and 
combination, with which was connected a number of grievances 
especially on the part of those subjected to the consuls of the 
Arte della hana} But in the anarchy of the next few days, 
although the petition of the insurgents had been instantly 
accepted by the Signoria and passed through the Councils, all 
principle seemed confused in a carnival of outrage. Led by a 
huckster, Betto di Ciardo, carrying the great banner of Justice 
which they had taken from the palace of the Executor, one 
portion of the mob sacked and burned the houses of those of the 
wealthy citizens who were obnoxious to them, while another 
seized upon those whom they regarded as their friends, and, 
willingly or unwillingly, made them knights in the name of the 
People. Luigi Guicclardini, the Gonfaloniere, found himself 
included in both classes. The Eight of the War and Salvestro 
de ? Medici were among those knighted, Buonaccorso di Lapo 
Giovanni one of those whose houses were destroyed. On the 
evening of the second day, July 21, the Podesta, Giovanni dei 
1 Cf. Rodolico, op. dt* pp. 180 et seq. 

247 



y 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



> V J> 



Marches! del Monte, surrendered the Palace of the Podesta, and 
the banners of the Guilds (the minor Arts having taken part 
with the populace) were hung out from its windows. On July 
22, the Signoria pusilknimously abandoned the Palazzo Veechio, 
and the mob swept in in triumph, while the bells of the tower 
pealed out in honour of the victory of the popolo minuto. 

A wool-carder, Mlchele di Lando, who had served the 
Republic as a crossbowman in the wars, carried the banner of 
Justice into the palace. Him the populace acclaimed Gonfalon- 
iere and Lord of Florence. It is needless to repeat the story of 
how this man, who had taken no part in the excesses of the mob, 
saved the State, Finding himself thus the sole ruler of the city, 
he instantly issued a proclamation that the ravages and brutalities 
of the insurgents must cease on pain of death, and summoned a 
parliament, where he was confirmed Gonfaloniere of Justice until 
the end of August. On the following day, July 23, he proposed 
the names of the new magistrates. Besides himself, four of the 
new Signoria represented the popolo minuto^ two the minor Arts 
(including the shoemaker, Benedetto di Carlone, already men- 
tioned), and two the greater Arts. They entered office with 
the usual formalities on July 25. 

Nevertheless, the general panic did not abate. In spite of 
repeated proclamations from the Signoria, many citizens fled to 
their villas in the contado, taking their families and movable 
goods with them, while those that remained would not lay down 
their arms nor open their shops. The crossbowmen of the 
Republic were marched through the city, to restore confidence, 
without avail. There was a general attempt to reform the State ; 
the admonitions of the Parte Guelfa were annulled, and ad- 
monished families readmitted to office ; and, on the last day of 
July, all the papers in the ballot-boxes, from which the names of 
the magistrates were drawn, were burnt : M in order that all things 
might be reformed anew, and that good men and merchants might 
be put into office.** On August 1, the priors went through the 
city in the morning, with trumpets and other instruments, 
which "mightily reassured those who wished to live in peace H ; 

2+8 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 



a thousand crosshowmen marched through in the afternoon, and 
it was proclaimed that every merchant could return in safety to 
carry on his business, with heavy penalties against any who 
should molest him. In the evenings the news came that the peace 
with the Pope had been signed, and that the absolution would 
soon arrive. 1 

It was an honourable and just peace that had been signed at 
Tivoli on July 28, the Pope on the following day giving leave 
to all the ecclesiastics of the Florentine dominion freely to 
celebrate Mass. The Florentines were to pay an indemnity of 
250,000 florins in monthly instalments, to annul all ordinances 
against the Church within two months, to restore all confiscated 
goods to the churches, monasteries, and hospitals. The Pope on 
his side would absolve them fully from all censures. Perugia 
and Citta di Castello were included, and the other colleagues and 
adherents of the Commune of Florence, who were subjects of the 
Church, on condition of sending ambassadors to the Pope to 
subscribe within two months ; and, in the meanwhile, the Pope 
could not make war upon them. They were practically to retain 
their liberties, while acknowledging the papal suzerainty, paying 
an indemnity and their original tribute. 2 But Florence was too 
much harassed by internal dissensions to indulge in public 
rejoicing. Rumours of fresh trouble caused the citizens again to 
stand to arms on the following day, August 2, and for several 
days this state of siege continued, the city diligently guarded, 
and men hourly expecting a new rising* 3 Nevertheless, there was 
a short interval before the tumults began again. 

With 
See, Catherine' 



the conclusion of peace between Florence and the Holy i. r ^^ 
erine's second great political work was done. In spite] 



<y 



1 Diario Comfagnatto, in Corazzini, pp. 1 10-t 12. 

* Gherardi, op* dt. f pp. 94-96, 221-223. The absolution was informally 
announced in Santo Spirito by Fra Agostino della Scarpcria on August 10, but 
the actual bulls did not arrive until October. On October 23, the Bishop of 
Vol terra and Fra Francesco of Orvicto solemnly absolved the city in the name 
of Pope Urban VI. Cf. Anonlmo Fionntino, pp. 373, 387, 388. 

s Diario Com/wgrtano, loc, cit, f p. 113. 

249 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



of the great personal danger that she and her followers must have 
run from the blind hatred of the populace, she had remained in 
the city all through these tumultuous days of revolution and 
anarchy, until the news came that the treaty was actually signed. 
Then she gathered her followers round her, and announced her 
intention of returning instantly to Siena, now that she had 
fulfilled the command of Christ and His vicar. 1 Such was the 
excitement and alarm in the city that it was not thought safe for 
her even to have an audience with the Signoria. It was probably 
on August 2, in the midst of the renewed panic, that she looked 
her last upon Florence, and went quietly home, u back to her 
daily way divine/* 

There still exists, among the Strozzi manuscripts of the Biblio- 
teca Nazionale of Florence, a fourteenth century copy of the letter 
which Catherine addressed on this occasion to the Gonfaloniere 
and Priors of the Republic. It is her farewell to Florence. 
" You have the desire/' she says, u of reforming your city ; but I 
tell you that this desire will never be fulfilled, unless you strive 
to throw to the ground the hatred and rancour of your hearts and 
your love of yourselves, that is, unless you think not of your- 
selves alone, but of the universal welfare of all the city," She 
suggests certain obvious reforms in the choice of magistrates, 
urges them to see that the conditions of the peace are properly 
carried out, and delicately hints that the exiles should be recalled. 
Then she speaks about herself :— 

"Let the sorrow that I feel at seeing your city (which I 
regard as mine) in such great trouble be my excuse. I did not 
expect to have to write to you ; but I thought, by word of mouth 
and face to face, to say these things to you, for the honour of 
God and your own utility. For my intention was to visit you, 
and to rejoice with you at the holy peace, for which peace I have 
laboured so long in all that I have been able, according to my 
possibility and my small power ; if I had been able to do more, I 
would have done it. After rejoicing with you, and thanking the 
Divine Goodness and you, I would have departed and gone away 
1 COLegmda, III. vi. 35 (§429). 
250 



CATHERINES EMBASSY TO FLORENCE 

to Siena. Now it seems that the demon has sowed so much, 
unjustly, in their hearts against me t that I have not wished that 
sin should be added to sin ; for thereby would the ruin be only 
increased. I have gone away, with the divine grace ; and I pray 
the supreme eternal Goodness to pacify and unite and bind your 
hearts together, one with the other, so in love of charity that 
neither demon nor creature can ever separate you. Whatever 
can be done by me for your welfare will I gladly do s even unto 
death, in spite of demons visible and invisible, who would im- 
pede every holy desire. I go away consoled, inasmuch as that is 
accomplished in me which I set before my heart when I entered 
this city, never to depart, though I should have to die for it, until 
I saw you, the children, reconciled with your father, seeing such 
peril and loss in souls and bodies ; I go away grieving and with 
sorrow, since I leave the city in such great bitterness. But may 
eternal God, who has consoled me in the one, console me in the 
other matter, so that I may see and hear that you are pacified in 
a good and firm and perfect state, that you may be able to render 
glory and praise to His name, and not stand under arms with 
such great affliction. I hope that the sweet clemency of God 
will turn the eye of His mercy, and fulfil the desire of His 
servants/' ! 

1 Unpublished. Appendix, Letter IV. 



251 



CHAPTER XII 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



'» Mulue disputationes factae sunt circa istam materiam, nrnilti libclli editi pro utriusque 
partis defensione. Perititaimus virus in ncra pagina et iure cauoniro habuit tola tempore 
illo quo duravlt id schisma utraque pars seu obedientia, ac etiam reLigiosissimos tiro* et 
(quod maius eat) etiam miraculia fa] gen tea ; nee unquam sic potuk quaettio ilia decidi, 
quin semper remaneret a pud plurimos dubia,"— St. Antoninus, Chronuorum, 111. tit. 21. 



Wi 



back 



phat had beer 



Rome 



must now turn 

and at Tivoli, while Catherine was thus engaged upon the work 
of her Divine Master at Florence. 

Gregory had returned from Anagni in November, broken 
down in health and embittered in spirit. He found even the 
Romans turning against him. By lending ear to the suggestions 
of the nobles, especially the ambitious and intriguing Count of 
Fondi, Onorato Gaetani, he had alienated the friendship of the 
Bandaresi, the formidable representatives of the Roman People, 
who had the whole force of the Republic behind them. It was 
feared that they would endeavour to prevent the Pope from 
again leaving the city. The Cardinal of Marmoutier declares 
that Gregory told him that one of the Roman cardinals was 
plotting his death, in order himself to obtain the tiara, 1 
One of the Pope's household told Alfonso da Vadaterra, who was 
then in Rome promoting the canonization of Birgitta, that 
Gregory intended to yield to the solici tat tons of the French 
cardinals and of his own family, and to return to Avignon, C( I 
am absolutely certain," answered the hermit-bishop, * that he 
will never be able to do this ; for I know that it is the will of 
God that our lord the Pope and his Curia should remain in 
Rome/ 1 2 A few days after this conversation, Gregory's last 

1 Deposition of the Cardinal of Marmoutier, Gayet, doc. 39. Jacopo Orsini, 
the person meant, was already dead when the Cardinal made this statement. 

a Raynaldus, vit. pp. 375, 376. Cf. Thomas de Acerno, Rtr. It. Script. , ill. 2. 
coll. 715, 716. 

252 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



illness came upon him. The Bandaresi forced their way to his 
bedside, to see for themselves if he were really dying. u The 
Pope cannot survive," one was heard to say to the other, as they 
passed out of the palace ; u the time has come for us to be good 
Romans. Let us look to it that in this case the popedom shall 
remain with our nation." l From his deathbed, Gregory issued 
a bull empowering the cardinals to proceed immediately to the 
election of his successor without summoning or awaiting their 
absent colleagues, and ratifying the choice that should be made 
by the majority of two-thirds, even in the face of a hostile and 
obstinate minority* About the same time, he sent secretly after 
dark for Pierre Gandelin, the Provencal governor of the Castello 
Sant' Angelo, and committed to his care a large portion of the 
papal treasures, forbidding him to give up the keys of the fortress, 
chance what might, without an express order from the cardinals 
at Avignon. 

This last French Pope recognized by the Church died on 
March 27, 1378, full of the gloomiest apprehensions ; according 
to one account, regarding his death as a direct intervention of 
God to prevent his returning to Avignon ; according to another, 
convinced that a fearful tempest was about to break upon the 
Church, for which he would be responsible for having lent faith to 
the visions of Birgitta and Catherine, and brought the papacy back 
to Rome, No sooner was the news of his death known, than 
preparations for the election of his successor began— both among 
the members of the Sacred College and those who, ostensibly, had 
no voice in the matter. There were mysterious meetings held 
by the Romans in the convent of Ara Caeli and in the Senator's 
palace on the Capitol. Deputations waited upon the cardinals 
to exhort them to choose a Roman, or at least an Italian Pope ; 
the same counsel was shouted after them in the streets ; and 
fierce threats were added. While the cardinals met each morning 
in Santa Maria Nuova, now Santa Francesca Romana, to cele- 
brate a solemn requiem at the deceased pontiff's grave for the 

1 Declaration of Fra Luigi, Bishop of Assist. Archwio I'atkano, LIV. 19, 

r. .83. 

253 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



repose of his soul* the Bandaresi and other Romans who were 
present seized the opportunity to urge upon them the necessity 
of electing an Italian Pope and of maintaining the Apostolic Chair 
at Rome. The Romans took possession of the gates of the city, 
and seized upon the shipping in the Tiber, While the nobles, 
including Onorato Gaetani, Count of Fondi, and Niccolo Orsini, 
Count of Nola, high officials of the Church, upon whose pro- 
tection the cardinals could have greatly relied, were expelled* 
bands of armed contadini and mountaineers from the Sabine and 
Alban hills came into the city, adding to the general confusion 
and alarm by their cries and uproar, hustling and threatening the 
French retainers and servants of the Sacred College. Clearly, 
the fathers were held in a trap. 

Nevertheless, the cardinals did not apparently believe in the 
seriousness of the danger. They did not think it advisable 
to summon the Breton and Gascon mercenaries, some eight 
hundred of whom were within an easy march of Rome, nor 
necessary (though there was some difference of opinion among 
them on this point) to take shelter behind the batdements of 
Sant* Angelo. To the persistent supplications of the authorities 
of the city to choose a Roman or an Italian for Pope, they 
answered in general terms that they would elect one who would 
gready please them and Italy and all Christendom. The four 
Italian cardinals, at the instance of the whole College, rebuked 
the Roman officials for their conduct ; but without result 1 
The Senator of Rome, Guido de Pruinis, and the Bandaresi, in 
the name of the Republic, undertook the protection of the 
conclave and the guard of the Leonine city. 2 A proclamation 
was made, threatening all disturbers of the public order with 

1 Cf. Cardinal Corsini's statement, added to the declarations of his colleagues, 
Gayet, doc. 27. 

2 Fra Gonsalvo, a Dominican, then prior of Santa Sabina, says that they sent 
to the cardinals to offer a good and pacific guard for the freedom of the conclave, 
but at the same time to beseech them to console Rome and Italy in the election, 
and to warn them that, if their choice did not satisfy the Romans, there would be 
trouble with the people ; they feared ne firte aliquod mm debttum popuius fat ere t. 
Ankivfa Faticano, L1V. 15, f, 571'. 

*54 




THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



death ; and a block, with the axe and other ghastly implements 
of the executioner's craft, was solemnly set up in the Piazza San 
Pietro. A general sense of alarm and expectancy pervaded the 
Eternal City. 

There were sixteen cardinals then in Rome, of whom ten were 



French, four Italians, one an immediate subject of the Emperor, 
and one a Spaniard. They were divided into three parties : the 
Limousin, the French, and the Italian factions. The Limousin 
faction was composed of prelates connected by birth or other ties 
with the families of Clement VI, Innocent VI, and Gregory XI, 
and who desired to elect one of their own number to carry on 
the bad tradi tions that had put the ecclesiastics of their own race 
at the head of the ^ clerical world. To it belonged the Cardinal 
of Limoges (Jean de Cros), the Cardinal of Poitiers (Guy de 
Malesset), the Cardinal of Marmoutier (Gerard du Puy), 
Cardinal Guillaume d'Aigrefeuille, Cardinal Pierre de Vergne, 
who were all Limousins, and the Cardinal of Viviers (Pierre de 
Sortenac), who was a Cahorsine. The Cardinals of Viviers and 
of Poitiers seem to have been the candidates most favoured by 
this group. Opposed to them was the so-called French faction , 
which included the Cardinal of Glandeves (Bertrand Lagier) ; the 
Cardinal of Sant' Eustachio (Pierre Flandrin) ; the Cardinal ot 
Sant' Angelo (Guillaume de Noellet) ; the Cardinal of Brittany 
(Hugues de Montalais), an Angevin by birth, who had been 
chancellor of Brittany. To this latter faction also adhered the 
two strongest personalities of the Sacred College, though neither 
of them was a Frenchman : Cardinal Robert of Geneva, the 
butcher of the citizens of Cesena ; and the Cardinal of Aragon, 
Pedro de Luna. Robert younger son of Count Amedee III of 
Geneva, was connected by his grandmother, Agnes of Savoy, 
with the royal house of France, and held the Archbishopric of 
Cam bray. The special aim of this faction was to free the Church 
from the domination of Limoges, even at the cost of electing an 
Italian Pope, though their choice would by preference have fallen 
upon the Cardinal of Sant* Eustachio or Cardinal de Noellet. 
The leader of the four Italian cardinals was the dean of the 

*55 



i> 



-) 



cardinal bishops, Piero Corsini, the Cardinal of Florenc e, who 
(as we saw) had been raised to the cardinalate By Urban V in 1370. 
Gregory XI had made him Bishop of Porto, from which he is 
frequently styled the u Cardinal of Porto/' He was a man of great 
ability and little moral courage. Francesco Tehaldesehj was a 
Roman of humble birth, who had been, likethe aristocratic 
Corsini, one of the cardinals of Urban V ; his title was of Santa 
Sabina, but he was always spoken of as the w Cardinal of St* 
Petor^V from his being archprlest of the basilica. He was an 
old man, broken down in health and tortured by gout. Jacopo 
Orsini, a member of the great Guelf house, was the only other 
I?oman in the Sacred College* He was dean of the cardinal 
deacons, a comparatively young man of doubtful probity and of 
great ambition. While ostensibly leaning towards the French 
faction, he was secretly himself aiming at the tiara, counting upon 
the support of the Roman nobles and populace. The remaining 
member of this group was the Archb ish op of Mi lan, Simone 
Hrossanq, a man learned in canon law, who had been promoted 
to the Sacred College by Gregory XI under the title of SS. 
Giovanni e Paolo on the Caelian Hill, 

In addition to these sixteen cardinals, there were seven 
members of the Sacred College absent from Rome. Six of these, 
including the brother of Urban V, Anglico de Grimoard (the 
best of the French cardinals), were at Avignon. The seventh, 
Jean de la Grange, the Benedictine M Cardinal of Amiens," a 
wealthy and worldly monk, a subtle politician of great influence 
with the French King, had been the chief papal representative at 
the Congress of Sarzana, and was now at Pisa. 

The one member of the Sacred College to whom Catherine, 
and all who looked for the salvation of Israel, turned was Pedro 
de Luna, who had ultimately supported the late Pope in restoring 
the See to Rome, where he apparently contemplated passing 
the rest of his life, as he had built himself a palace, was busily 
restoring his titular church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, and had 
even chosen his place of burial in San Lorenzo. A man of 
blameless life, vast learning, great charity, and apparently sincere 

256 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



piety, insensible to moral or physical fear, there was, nevertheless, 
something mysterious and inscrutable in his bearing and character. 
But of all the foreign cardinals he was the only one that the 
Romans loved and respected. He was intimate with Alfonso da t 
Vadaterra, with whom, as also with Fra Raimondo and with Fra 
Gonsalvo, the Dominican prior of Santa Sabina, he discussed the 
situation with much apparent frankness. ,c In good sooth, 1 ' he 
said one day to Fra Gonsalvo, in reference to the threats of the 
Romans, ** I tell you that, even if I have to die for it, I shall 
choose no one for Pope save whom I wish. And why should I 
deem it an unworthy end, to die at the hands of this people and 
in this holy city where so many thousand saints have battled for 
the truth ? ,r x Regarded by Catholic writers, in the light of 
his subsequent career, as an astute dissembler and designing 
hypocrite, it is, nevertheless, difficult for the impartial student of 
Church history not to recognize in Pedro de Luna a man of 
upright life and high ideals, zealously striving to find where the 
hidden jewel of truth lay concealed, and to follow where he 
deemed that the light led, 

But there was another personage, not a member of the Sacred 
College, upon whom many eyes were turned in Rome at this 
crisis in the history of the Church. B artolommeo Prignan o was 
born at Naples, shortly before 1320, of a father who was by 
origin a native of Pisa, and of a Neapolitan mother. As Arch- 
bishop of Acerenza, and assistant to the Vice-Chancellor, he had 
resided at the court of Avignon, and was thoroughly conversant 
with the affairs and administration of the Church. As we saw, 
he had at first opposed Catherine, and had afterwards been 
impressed by her sanctity, though we do not know how far he 
had had any personal intercourse with her. He had come to 
Rome with Pope Gregory, by whom he had been promoted to the 
Archbishopric of Bari, and was now acting as Vice-Chancellor of 

1 Deposition of Fra Gonsalvo, Archivh Faticano, LIV. 15, f, 58. The friar 
states (MS, d/. f f. 63 r.) that the Romans had such" confidence in the Cardinal of 
Aragon that they would have been perfectly contented if he had been elected 
Pope. 

17 257 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

the Holy See in the absence* at Avignon, of the Cardinal of 
Pamplona* In appearance, he was of short stature and thick- 
set, pallid and sallow in complexion. As to his character, 
Dietrich of Nieheim, afterwards one of his secretaries, assures us 
that he was * a man humble and devout, keeping his hands free 
from every gift, a foe and persecutor of simoniacs, a lover of 
chastity and justice, but one that relied too much on his own 
prudence, and over-readily gave credence to flatterers/' 1 He 
lacked the suave and courteous manners of the Cardinal of 
Aragon, the air of a polished man of the world that distinguished 
the Cardinal of Geneva, the diplomatic astuteness and aristocratic 
dignity of the Cardinal of Florence ; was brusque and impetuous, 
easily moved to anger, devoid of restraint and tact in word and 
in deed — -albeit these traits had hitherto been kept in check by 
his comparatively inferior position. 

The Archbishop had lately bought himself a house and a 
vineyard in Rome, in order to qualify as a Roman citizen. His 
enemies see a sinister purpose in all his movements during these 
days, He is said to have been incessant in secretly questioning 
the Pope's physician, Francesco Casini, during Gregory's last 
illness, as to the possibility of his recovery. During the nine 
days of requiem Masses for Gregory's soul at Santa Maria 
Nuova, he had seized the opportunity of asking Guido de 
Prurinis to present him to the Bandaresi and their colleagues ; 
after which he appears frequently to have been present at their 
secret meetings on the Capitol. There is nothing in all this, 
however, in the least inconsistent with straightforward dealing, 
and the accusations made against him, of attempting to purchase 
the support of the Romans in his designs on the papacy, may be 
disregarded. It seems certain that he counselled them to be 
moderate and peaceable. Nardo dt Giorgio, an apothecary who 
was then one of the Bandaresi, and seems to have made a very 
sinister impression upon the French prelates of the Curia, has 
left on record that one day he and other Romans requested the 
Archbishop to go to the cardinals to beseech them to give them 
1 T. dc Nyem, De Sthismate v I. i . 
258 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



a Roman or Italian Pope ; to which Bartolotnmeo replied that 
they should not make any such supplication to the cardinals, 
but leave them to make their election freely, and, for his part, he 
believed that the cardinals would do well : " Then this witness 
and his companions were not well contented with his answer, and 
told him that they would seek another who would act more 
according to their wishes/ 1 1 

Another prudent voice raised at these meetings was that of 
Fra Bonaventura Badoara of Padua, who had been elected general 
of the Augustinian hermits in the preceding year. It did not 
matter to the Romans, he said, that the Pope should be a Roman 
or an Italian, but only that he should remain upon Italian soil. 
They should content themselves with whatever Pope might be 
elected, whatever his origin ; but, when once elected, they could 
supplicate his Holiness to take up his residence in Rome, 
Above all, he added, u let me urge you to do nothing, not even 
by signs, that can be taken as violence or pressure. For by 
these things the election can be rendered void.'* 2 

It is clear that there was no feeling of antagonism towards the 
Archbishop of Bari in the Sacred College. They regarded him 
as an experienced, eloquent and devout, and (as a subject of the 
Queen of Naples) politically neutral prelate ; from his long 
residence in Avignon, the French looked upon him as almost 
one of themselves, Alfonso da Vadaterra had praised him 
highly to the Cardinal of Aragon, who, from personal knowledge 
of his qualities, regarded him as a suitable candidate for the 
papacy — but their testimonies differ on one important particular. 
The hermit-bishop's version is that Pedro de Luna told him 
that he had resolved to give his vote to the Archbishop of Bari, 
because the dissensions between the French and the Limousin 
factions made it impossible to elect an ultramontane member of 
the Sacred College, The Cardinal himself declares that he only 

1 Testimony of Nardo, Archwk Faticano> LIV, 37, f. 144. I find the full 
name of this personage, tardus Gtorgii aliter dktus Lupus^ in an undated brief of 
Urban VI, Cod. FaL Lat. 6330, f. 277. 

2 Baluze, L coll. 1240, 1241. 

259 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



n 



intended to adopt this course In the event of the Romans com- 
pelling the fathers to choose a Roman or an Italian* and that 
he thinks that the majority of the Sacred College favoured the 
candidature of the Cardinal of Viviers. 1 But, a few days before 
the conclave, Tommaso Petra told FraRaimondo that he saw 
that almost all the cardinals had agreed to elect the Archbishop 
of Ban. 2 This is questionable. There seems, however, little 
doubt that, in the event of their being unable, through internal 
dissensions or external pressure, to carry the election of their 
own candidate, the French and Limousin cardinals (and probably, 
though this is more uncertain, three of the four Italians) had 
contemplated the possibility of their agreeing upon the Archbishop 
of Ban, The Clementine position is that this course was only to 
be adopted in case the Sacred College was in danger and unable 
to proceed to a free election, while the IJrhanistsJtieclare that the 
split between the two factions had secured his election before 
the conclave met. 

The cardinals entered the conclave on the late afternoon of 
the Wednesday in Passion Week, April 7. Our knowledge of 
what happened all comes from the sworn testimonies and 
depositions of contemporaries and eye-witnesses, even of those 
who played leading parts in the events of that night and the 
following day. Nevertheless, it is impossible to find out the 
absolute truth of what brought about the temporary dissolution 
of the Catholic world. These testimonies and depositions were 
taken many months later, when the deadliest passions had been 
roused on either side, and the memories of the actors sharpened 
or distorted by the urgent need of proving their own party in 
the right. The clearest and fullest details by witnesses on the 
side of the Roman claimant are flady contradicted by details, 
equally clear and full, by witnesses on behalf of Avignon. 8 

1 Cf. Alfonso's testimony, in Raynaldus, viL p. 377, with that of Cardinal 
dc Lun3, in A. Sorbclli, Appendix to St. Vincent Ferrer's De Moderno Eccksiat 
Schismatt) pp. 244, 245. 

a Valois, t. pp. 30, 31. 

3 The depositions of Bishop Tommaso of Lucera, given by Muratori {Rer. 

260 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



The historian to-day can merely strain after a via media> guided 
by the statements of the men who, for one cause or another, 
seem on either side the least open to suspicion of deliberate 
falsification. 

A vast and clamorous crowd, partly armed, filled the piazza 
and surged round the Vatican, shouting : " Give us a Roman or at 
least an Italian Pope" ; as the princes of the Church, one by one, 
made their way with difficulty into the palace, under the 
protection of the Senator. The rooms destined for the conclave 
were on the first floor f but a number of Romans seem to have 
pressed in after the cardinals and their attendants, and to have 
thronged the courtyard, probably continuing the threats that had 
been shouted in the square. The Romans had deputed Giovanni 
Cenci > chancellor of the city, Nardo di Giorgio, and others of 
their leaders, to guard the conclave ; while, on the side of the 
cardinals, a similar function was assigned to Guillaume de la 
Voulte, Bishop of Marseilles, and the Bishops of Todi and 
TivolL Before the conclave was closed, the heads of the 
thirteen Rioni, with other Romans, came to the cardinals, and, 
respectfully at first, but afterwards with warnings of the 
consequences of a refusal, demanded that a Roman or an Italian 
should be elected to the papacy. The Cardinal of Florence, as 
dean of the cardinal bishops, answered that they would do what 
should be pleasing to God, useful for the Church, and honourable 
for the city. Aigrefeuille and Orsini, deans of the cardinal 
priests and cardinal deacons respectively, warned them that any 
interference would invalidate the election. All during the night, 
a great uproar continued in the piazza ; according to the 
Urbanists, it was mere lighthcarted singing and merry-making, 
with a wonderful absence of the slightest sinister element ; 
according to the Clementines, it was the clamour of a furious mob, 

It. Script^ iii. i), and of Bishop Niccolft of Viterbo, recently published by 
Pastor (Acta Incdita, document 3), on the one side, arc as untrustworthy as 
the solemn testimonies of the cardinals themselves, so sedulously collected by 
the Abbe Gayet, on the other. M. Noel Valois, La France ft ie Grand Schism* 
4* Occident, L pp. 55—83, is judicious and impartial 

26l 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

threatening death to the cardinals if their will was not obeyed. 
It seems agreed by both parties that, about the middle of the 
night, a crowd composed mainly of rough peasants from the hills 
broke into the Vatican cellars, u volentes bibere de bono vino 
papale." At intervals, the cries of " Roman or Italian M rose up, 
within and without the palace, and reached the ears of the 
cardinals in their cells, 

Early in the morning of Thursday, April 8, a band of 
Romans forced their way into the campanile of St. Peter's and 
rang the bells. They were answered by the tocsin of the Capitol, 
which clashed out a stormo^ as though to call the populace to arms. 
The cardinals had entered the conclave and Corsini was about 
to address them, when the clamour was renewed, and the Bishop 
of Marseilles, with his colleagues, implored them not to elect a 
foreigner or they were all lost. Cenci and Nardo assured them 
that they could do nothing. Against his will, the Cardinal of 
Florence was led by Aigrefeuille and Orstni to the window, and 
the two latter addressed the armed and infuriated crowd below, 
promising that, if they would keep quiet and leave the cardinals 
to their deliberations, they should have a Roman or an Italian for 
Pope. 

It is impossible to say with confidence whether this promise, 
manifestly extorted by fear and necessity, induced the cardinals . 
to do what next they did, or whether their own dissensions had 
already impeUed them to the choice they ultimately made. The 
Cardinals of Florence and Limoges first suggested that the 
election should be postponed ; but it was feared that this might 
cause a general massacre of the Sacred College, which could only 
lead to complete anarchy in the Church. " I should be willing 
to lay down my life for the Faith/* said Cardinal Lagier, c< if God 
were to grant me such grace ; but not for the nationality of a 
Pope." Then Orsini, who was bent at all costs upon keeping 
out the Archbishop of Bari, proposed that a friar minor should 
be dressed up in the papal robes and paraded as Pope, so that 
they could escape and hold a free election elsewhere. This plan 
was indignantly rejected by the Cardinal of Limoges and others, 

262 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 




as leading the people to commit idolatry. 1 It was unanimously 
agreed to satisfy the people, or, at least, to take a course that 
would reconcile the interests of the Church with the demands of 
the Romans. 2 Pedro de Luna saw the time had come to carry 
out his plan, and informally suggested that the Archbishop of 
Bari should be elected ; Orsini whispered to the Cardinal of 
Florence to propose Tebaldeschi ; the Cardinal of Brittany 
named the Cardinal of Milan, who answered that he would not 
accept such an election* if they were to make him ten times Pope. 
" Habemus pontificem^ cried the Cardinal of Geneva, perhaps 
ironically, seeing that Luna's candidate had the majority. The 
cardinals took their seats, and Aigrefeuille called on the Cardinal 
of Florence, as dean of the Sacred College, formally to propose a 
candidate, Corsini then named the Cardinal of St. Peter's, but 
added (so he tells us) : "I should name an ultramontane 
member of the College, were it not for the promise we have 
made the Romans, and their bearings and our fear of them/' 3 
The Cardinal of Limoges, whose turn was to speak next, said 
that St Peter's was too old and his election would be too obviously 
a yielding to clamour ; Florence and Milan were impossible, 
because of the hostility of their cities to the papal see ; Orsini 
was too young and a Roman* He proposed the Lord Archbishop 
of Bari. All the rest concurred, with certain exceptions and 
reservations. The Cardinal of Sant' Angelo said that he agreed, 
although his vote could be of no avail, as he believed that the 
election was not valid. The Cardinals of Brittany and Milan 
said they yielded under protest, as the others were agreed. 
Cardinal Orsini declared that he would not give his vote to any 
one, under the circumstances, but would wait until he was at 
liberty. Several cardinals in voting for the Archbishop of Bari 
added the words : ut sit verus papa ; evidently in repudiation of 

1 Testimony of the Bishop of Faenza, Arch'wfa Vatican^ LIV. 40, Cf, Rer. It. 
Script^ ifi. a. coll. 680, 681, It is noteworthy that St, Antoninus (III, p, 389) 
ascribes a similar suggestion to Bartolommeo Prignano himself. 

a Cf. Valois, I. p. 45. 

3 Depositions of the Italian cardinals, Gayet, doc. 27, 

263 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



the suggestion that they should make a fictitious election. 
Cardinal de Luna's own account of the matter is that they did 
not wish to elect an Italian, but thought the Archbishop a 
sufficient man, and that if, when they were at liberty, the 
cardinals agreed, he would be re-elected ; if not, they assumed 
that he would abdicate. For his own part, he was not moved by 
fear ; but, seeing the cardinals agreed to satisfy the people, he 
proposed him and voted for him with the intention that, in any 
case, he would be content that he should be Pope. 1 It is 
evident that the cardinals thought that they had done their best, 
though they would probably have made a different choice under 
different circumstances. They had made a genuine attempt to 
satisfy the Romans, while not compromising the dignity of the 
Sacred College. It is questionable whether, at this moment, 
more than a small minority among them considered that the 
election was invalid, though the Cardinal of Glandeves seems to 
have protested from the outset that he had only acted from fear 
of death. 

Either to gain time, or because the Archbishop had not yet 
accepted his election, the cardinals did not forthwith proclaim 
the new pontiff. The uproar in the piazza began again. 
Orsini, whose office it was to announce the election, advanced to 
the window, accompanied by the Cardinals of Florence and 
Geneva — the Bishop of Marseilles, who had completely lost his 
head with terror, incessantly imploring them to name a Roman. 
u O Romans," shouted Orsini to the crowd, " if you do not 
have a Pope you will like by the evening, you can cut me into 
pieces." A deafening roar of ** Roman, Roman, we will have a 
Roman,'* was the answer— perhaps raised in part by the retainers 
of the Cardinal's own family in his interest. The Archbishop of 
Bari himself, who had been summoned to the palace together 
with Agapito Colonna and other Roman prelates, also appeared on 
the scene, apparently at another window, and exhorted the crowd 
to keep calm. 2 This done, the cardinals took a hasty meal, and 

1 His testimony in Sorbelli, op, W/, f pp. 251, 25a. 

2 So at least the Bishop of Todi (Gayct, doc, 1 7), who adds that he thinks 

264 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 

returned to the chapel of the conclave, to arrange about 
publishing the election. Although by now aware of what had 
happened, Bartolommeo does not seem to have been present. 

In the meanwhile, a rumour had spread through the crowd 
that they were being tricked, and the uproar was renewed. The 
cardinals, on the motion of Tebaldeschi, appear to have practi- 
cally re-elected Bartolommeo, Orsini, who alone had continued 
in opposition * now went to the window, and told the people that 
the Pope was elected : u Go to San Pietro." He was under- 
stood as saying that the Cardinal of St* Peter's was Pope, and a 
rush was made to pillage Tebaldeschi's palace. "No, no," cried 
one of the French prelates of the Curia, " Ban, Bari I H A roar 
of execration burst from the crowd, who supposed that Jean de 
Bafj a hated Limousin prelate, kinsman to the late pontiff, was 
the person meant. Brandishing their swords and axes, the 
Romans burst into the conclave, shouting : " A Roman, a Roman, 
death to the traitor cardinals ! n Hearing this fresh tempest 
sweeping upon them, ignorant of the misunderstanding that had 
arisen, the unfortunate cardinals could only suppose that the 
election of the Archbishop of Bari had failed to satisfy the 
Romans. Some vainly attempted to escape ; the others, in spite of 
a vigorous protest from Cardinal de Luna, hastily resolved to 
present Tebaldeschi to the people as Pope, Notwithstanding the 
old Cardinal's protests, the conclavists took hold of him, dressed 
him in the papal robes, and seated him in the papal chair as 
Sovereign Pontiff, while the bells were rung and the Te Deum 
intoned. He attempted to resist, but was forcibly held down by 
the Cardinal of Marmoutier and the Cardinal of Brittany, while, in 



thai Bartolommeo did not then know of his election. Nardo, on the other hand, 
says that Orsini told hira and the Bishop of Marseilles to tell the Romans from 
the cardinals that they would content them about a Roman or Italian Pope ; he 
delivered the message himself, bidding them thank God and go away so that the 
Pope could freely come out ; " And then some Romans, who were of the house- 
hold of the said Lord Cardinal Orsini and of his kindred, hid their faces among 
the others, and shouted that they wanted a Roman only.** Archtvh Fatkano, LIV, 
37- £ 14*** 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

the deafening uproar when the Romans broke in, his feeble 
declaration that he was not the Pope was unheard, or taken 
merely as an expression of humility. They seized him and 
enthroned him on the altar. Prelates and people alike knelt to 
kiss his feet, and acclaimed him as vicar of Christ ; and such was 
the press of unwelcome adorers, who added to the tortures that 
he was already suffering from the gout, that the poor old man 
began to rave wildly of antipopes and devils, and cursed the 
Romans who besought his apostolic benediction. After some 
hours, more dead than alive, he was carried in triumph to the 
papal apartments^ and there left in peace. 1 

While this was in progress, the cardinals fled as best they 
could from the palace, Aigrefeuille, Pierre de Vergne, Viviers, 
Poitiers, and Limoges took refuge in the Castello Sant* Angelo, 
where they were joined later by the Cardinal of Brittany, whose 
house had been sacked and he himself roughly handled. The 
Cardinals of Florence, Milan, and Marmoutier got in safety to 
their own houses. Robert of Geneva, Noellet, Orsini, and 
Flandrin escaped from the city. The last to leave the chapel 
was Pedro de Luna, accompanied by his conclavist, the Dean of 
Tarascon, Fernando Perez, who states that, throughout all the 
disturbance, the Cardinal had rebuked and restrained the fury of 
the people, A number of Romans escorted them on their way, 
and, as they passed Sant' Angelo, the French supposed them 
prisoners, and attempted a rescue. Once over the bridge, the 
Cardinal was treated with all reverence by the populace. 2 
Alfonso da Vadaterra, who visited him on his return from the 

1 The clearest account of this extraordinary affair is in Valois, I, pp, 52, 53. 
That given by Creighton, in his History of the Papacy, was written before the Vatican 
documents were made accessible, It is curious to notice that Catherine of Sweden, 
who was in Rome, supposes that the cardinals enthroned Tcbaldeschi for fear 
lest the Romans should kill the real Pope because not a Roman. Cf. her testi- 
mony in Raynaldus, vii. pp. 380, 381, The Italian cardinals state that one of 
the others '* told the people that the Lord of St. Peter's was elected but would 
not consent, and that they should induce him to consent.'* Gayct, doc, 27. 

% Letter from the Dean of Tarascon, Rome, April 1 i> to the Precentor of Elne 
at Avignon. Gayct, doc. 22. 

266 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



conclave, found him surrounded by the Romans who had accom- 
panied him, u tot us laetus et hilaris," and still (so he asserts) 
keeping up the fiction that Tebaldeschi was Pope. But, when 
left alone with Alfonso and Fernando Perez, he explained that, 
by his means, the Archbishop of Bari had been unanimously 
elected as true Pope, and that the Cardinal of St, Peter's had 
been enthroned simply for fear of the people, 1 He further told 
him that the new pontiff was in hiding for fear — which the 
Cardinal may well have believed, but which was by no means the 
case, 

Bartolommeo Prignano had remained in the Vatican, with 
Cardinal Tebaldeschi and a few Italian prelates. He had had no 
official notification of his election, but Giovanni Cenci and the 
Bandaresi had already greeted him as Pope, and were busily 
calming the minds of the Romans, The storm had, indeed, 
completely subsided, and the following morning, Friday, April 
9, found Rome at peace. Tommaso Petra tells us that, at 
daybreak, Alfonso da Vadaterra sent to him in the name of the 
Cardinal de Luna, asking him to go at once to Bartolommeo, to 
assure him from the Cardinal that he was as truly Pope as St. 
Peter, and that he had received a promise from influential 
persons of a place of safety and a sufficient force of armed men 
to bring him wherever he pleased, To this Bartolommeo 
answered that he was not afraid, and that there was no need of 
such an offer, for he wished to see his children freely and had no 
thought of leaving them, but he thanked the Cardinal for his 
solicitude. 2 The Cardinal had mistaken the situation ; the new 
Pope and the representatives of the Roman People were united 
against such intervention. Either freely or under pressure from 
Cenci and the Bandaresi, all the cardinals who had remained in 
the city came to the Vatican, followed (after some negotiation 
and attempted evasion) by the six who had taken refuge in Sant* 

Bio. When Pedro de Luna arrived, Bartolommeo said that 
d not mean to be deceived, arid bade him tell him if he 
1 Raynaldus, vii, p* 378. 
51 Testimony of Tommaso Petra, Archivto Vatican^ LIV. 17, f. 80. 
267 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



understood that he had been lawfully elected — to which the 
Cardinal answered in the affirmative* The cardinals retired into 
the chapel, and, almost immediately, summoned Bartolommeo, 
and informed him, by the mouth of the Cardinal of Florence, 
that they had elected him Pope. u I am not worthy,' 1 was the 
answer, H but I shall not contradict the Divine will ; I accept/* 1 
He was at once robed in the papal vestments, and enthroned on 
the altar ; the TV Deum was sung ; the doors were thrown open 
for clergy and laity to pay their homage, while, in the absence of 
Orsini, Cardinal de Vergne from a window of the palace formally 
proclaimed to the people the election of Pope Urban VI. 

u By the goodness and industry of the Roman People" wrote the 
Mantuan agent, Cristoforo da Piacenza, to his master, " the lord 
cardinals have elected the Lord Bartolommeo, Archbishop ot 
Bari, for Pope, a man with whom the holy Church of God is 
certainly well provided/' H I am certain that the holy Church of 
God will be well governed, and I dare to say that for more than a 
hundred years she has not had such a pastor. For he has no 
kindred, and Is most friendly with the Queen, experienced in the 
affairs of the world, wise and prudent. All the Romans without 
distinction are supremely joyful for the sake of the city, which has 
gained back her Spouse/' 2 

During Holy Week, the cardinals who had fled from Rome 
returned. On Easter Sunday, April 18, Urban was crowned 
by Cardinal Orsini in front of St. Peter's, M with the greatest 
solemnity and devotion," and went in procession with the 
cardinals, all riding on white horses, to take possession of the 
Lateran. The cardinals asked him for graces and favours, 
spiritual and temporal, for themselves and their relatives and 
friends, and in all respects treated him as lawful Pope. As such, 
they announced his election to the cardinals at Avignon, to the 
Kmperor, and to the other princes of Christendom ; but it seems 

1 Testimony of Cardinal de Luna, toe. cjf, f pp. 2§9» 20 °» 
a Despatches of April 9 and XI, 1378. Pastor, Geschkhte^ documents 10 and 
11. The hermit-bishop, on the other hand (in the light of later events), tries 
to make out that the Romans raisliked the election of a Neapolitan, 

268 








THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 

probable that this was done simply in obedience to Urban's 
commands, and they appear in several instances to have accom- 
panied their letters with a secret message not to put implicit 
confidence in the official accounts of the election. The peculiar 
situation had alarmed the consciences of many in the city, but 
the Cardinal of Geneva and the Cardinal of Milan seem to have 
been the only members of the College who openly expressed any 
doubts as to Urban's title. When questioned^ at least during 
Holy Week and Easter Week, the others seem invariably to have 
answered that Urban was as true a Pope as St, Peter, or words to 
a similar effect, 1 Francesco Casim, indeed, hinted to Cardinal 
Orsini that there were some who said that he was not Pope. " Get 
out of this, you devil, 1 ' answered that emphatic prince of the 
Church ; ** whoso says this, lies in his throat. He is as much a 
Pope as you are a doctor of medicine/* 2 Afterwards, the cardi- 
nals declared that they were still in fear of the Roman populace, 
surrounded by Urban's spies, and acting under compulsion ; 
strange stories were told of ultramontane Carmelites and 
Augustinians who had fared badly at the hands of their Italian 
brethren for questioning the validity of the election. 3 Never- 
theless, it is highly probable that, whether canonical or not, the 
cardinals would have accepted the situation, had it not been for 
Urban's own conduct. 

Urban entered upon his pontificate with a sincere and uncom- 
promising hatred of the corruption of the Curia and zeal for the 
reformation of the Church, but with a tacdess v ehemence that can 
only be explained on the assumption that his elevation had turned 
his head. Not content with enforcing regulations against simony 
and checking the luxury of the households of the cardinals, he 



1 Cf. especially the report of the Bishop of Vitcrbo, Pastor, Acta Imdlta^ doc. 
3, in which, however, there is a manifest Urban ist exaggeration, 

3 Testimony of Francesco da Siena, Anklmu Vatican^ LIV. 17, f. 76. 

8 Cf. Gayct, II. pp. 86, 92. One of the Bandaresi is said to have declared 
that, if any one ventured to call the validity of the election into question, " in 
vcritatc Romani quemcumque facientem dubium ponerent in pedis talibus, quod 
major pars esset auricula," 

269 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



abused and insulted the individual members of the Sacred College, 
and announced that he would swamp them by the creation of new 
Italians and Romans. He stormed at them in public, calling one 
a fool, another a liar, bidding a third hold his tongue. He sprang 
from his seat to attack the Cardinal of Limoges, and there would 
have been a disgraceful brawl, if the Cardinal of Geneva had not 
intervened. On Low Sunday, April 25, the Cardin al of Amien s 
arrived in Rome, furious with his colleagues Tor electing an 
Italian, openly expressing his doubts as to the validity of the 
election. A violent scene took place in the papal palace* Urban 
declared that the Cardinal had destroyed the peace of the world 
by his treacherous diplomacy ; the Cardinal retorted that, if his 
accuser were still the Archbishop of Bari 3 he would tell him that 
he lied in his throat. Such was Urban's bearing that even his 
salutary measures for reform, bidding cardinals repair and reside 
at their titular churches, bishops return to their sees, and the 
like, seemed to acquire the character of studied insults. Nor 
were the laity left untouched. Great nobles from Apulia and 
barons from the Campagna found themselves rebuked and their 
petitions denied them. Fra Gonsalvo, who had been absent from 
the city on business of his order during the conclave, tells us that 
at Gaeta he met Neapolitans returning from Rome, who were 
greatly scandalized at the conduct of the new pontiff, who drove 
people away from him with ignominy, "nobles and magnates and 
venerable clerics and religious/* There was much discussion 
among the friars on the subject, but the prevalent opinion was 
that it made for righteousness and marked the beginning of a 
holy time, that men of bad life should be disturbed by the words 
of the Pope, for these persons "would not dare to go into the 
presence of Christ, the searcher of hearts." 1 Andrea di Piero 
Gambacorti, who had gone to congratulate him in his father's 
name, brought back a similar account of his proceedings to Pisa. 
c< According to what he says," wrote the Prior of Gorgona to 

1 MS. «>., ff. 58 c, 59. To the poor, however, Urban was gracious, grant- 
ing them all the favours and graces they asked. Cf. Cristoforo da Piacenza in 
his despatch of June 24, Pastor, Gcschuhte r I. doc. 12. 

270 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



Catherine, "this Holy Father of ours is a terrible man, and frightens 



people fearfully 



T& 



\ his conduct and word 
a great trust in God, by reason of which he fears no man in the 
world, and he is manifestly striving to abolish the simony and 
great pomp that reigns in the Church of God. M l But Urban did 
not reserve his wrath for evil-doers ; the ** servants of God " 
came in for their share, when they spoke unpalatable truths ; we 
still possess Catherine's letter of apology for Fra Bartolommeo di 
Domenico, who, <( by his fault of manner and his scrupulous con- 
science," had thus excited the ready anger of her M sweet Christ 
on earth/' 2 

The presence of the Cardinal of Amiens in Rome seems to 
have brought things to a head. Led by him and Robert of 
Geneva, the cardinals resolved to use against Urban the weapon 
that the irregular nature of his election had put into their hands. 
Urban had mortally offended Onorato Gaetani, the Count of 
Fondi, by depriving him of the government of the Campagna, 
and refusing to repay a large loan which he had made to the Holy 
See. Amiens induced him to make common cause with the 
cardinals, and at the same time, together with the Cardinal of 
Geneva, he secretly encouraged Pierre Gandelin and Pierre 
Rostaing, who, in spite of promises from Urban and threats 
from the Romans, were still holding the Castello Sant* Angelo, 
not to surrender it to the Pope. This done, the ultramontane 
cardinals gradually left Rome, on plea of avoiding the heat, some 
with and some without Urban's leave, and made their way to 
Anagni (which the late Pope had fixed upon as the summer resi- 
dence of the Curia), together with many other prelates of the 
court and the chamberlain, Pierre de Cros, who carried off the 
tiara of Gregory XI and most of the papal jewels. The first to 
go were the Cardinals of Aigrefeuille and Poitiers, who left on 
May 6 ; the last was Pedro de Luna, who stayed on in Rome 
until about June 24. 

The position of the Cardinal of Aragon was a peculiar one. 
He could not but be aware that the election was regarded by most 
1 Lettere del discepoii t 3. 2 Letter 302 (i6)« 

271 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



spiritual persons as his work, and that they all looked to him to 
aid the Pope in reforming the Church. It is clear that he was 
most reluctant to break with Urban, or to take any steps against 
the unity of Christendom, When Fra Gonsalvo returned to 
Rome in June, he found him at Santa Maria in Cosmedin, his 
titular church, where he had taken up his residence in obedience to 
the papal decree. Alone with the Cardinal (whose confessor he 
was), the friar besought him to tell him the truth as to the 
reports that were spreading about Urban' s election ; to which he 
answered that they had elected him in good faith, but that his 
conduct since had been insupportable. 1 According to Alfonso 
da Vadaterra, he complained also of Urban's ingratitude* u The 
other ultramontane cardinals have all gone to Anagni," he said, 
as they walked together in his garden, " and why should I linger 
here with our lord, when he will grant me none of my requests ? " 
At last, he decided to follow them, though Alfonso implored him 
not to go. " He told me," says the hermit-bishop, M that in his 
conscience he considered our lord the true Pope ; but that, if he 
went to Anagni, he would do so to obviate the malice and sedition 
of the French cardinals, who had an utterly evil and vindictive 
intention against him ; and that he thought to serve our lord 
the Pope better there than if he remained with him in Rome. 
And I believe certainly that he went with this good intention ; 
he wished to catch others in Anagni, but, alas, was caught himself, 
which I cannot recall without heartfelt grief." 2 

Urban had at first no suspicion as to the intentions of the 
cardinals, and even talked of joining them at Anagni. He now 
took alarm, hearing that they were plotting against him and 
saying that he was not Pope, and summoned them to appear 
within a certain time in his presence at Tivoli, whither he went 
on June 27, accompanied by Cardinal Tebaldeschi. " I do not 
know what will happen," wrote Crlstoforo da Piacenza, with 
cheerful optimism, to Lodovico 



izaga 



hoped 



1 Deposition of Fra Gonsalvo, MS. cit. f £ 60. 

2 Raynaldus, vii. p. 379. 

272 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



everything will be settled peaceably.** x Urban had previously 
sent the three other Italians— Corsini, Brossano, and Orsini— to 
Anagni to assure the cardinals of his good intentions, " offering 
them many favours and advantages for themselves and their kin, 
and to do more for them than any Roman Pontiff had ever done." 
In public, the French cardinals professed themselves astonished 
that Urban should give credit to such reports about their inten- 
tions ; but, in private, they told their Italian colleagues that they 
regarded the Apostolic See as vacant, and urged them to stay 
with them. The three, however, returned to Urban, without 
having effected anything. 2 For a while, the cardinals continued 
to write to Urban as Pope and to treat him as such ; but this was 
only a device to gain time. At the summons of the chamberlain, 
Pierre de Cros, the Breton and Gascon mercenaries under 
Bernardo n de la Salle marched up from Viterbo to Anagni for 
the defence of the Sacred College, passing within sight of Rome 
on their way. At the Ponte Salario, on July 16, the forces of 
the Roman Republic attempted to dispute their passage, but were 
routed with loss of several hundreds killed. The infuriated 
Roman populace retaliated by a massacre of all the foreign priests 
and laymen who fell into their hands. The cardinals now 
openly declared that the election of Urban was null and void, 
because of the compulsion of the Romans, and, on July 20, 
summoned their Italian colleagues to join them at Anagni within 
five days. From Tivoli, on July 27, Marsile d'Inghen, who 
was representing the interests of the University of Paris at the 
papal court, wrote to the rector and heads of the University that 
a schism in the Church was imminent, and asked for instructions 
as to what he was to do under these circumstances. 3 

1 Despatch of June 24. Pastor, Gachichtc % I. doc. 12. The deposition of 
Pierre de Cros, Gayet, doc. 23, shows that the cardinals had hoped to entice 
Urban to Anagni in order to make him their prisoner. 

* Cardinal Corsini's addition to the casus of the three Italian cardinals. Gayet, 
doc. 27. Ci the report of the Bishop of Viterbo, Pastor, Acta Incdtta^ doc. 3. 

3 Du Boulap, IV. pp. 466, 467. Cf. Valois, L p. 76; Gayet, II. p. 25. 
The letter from the foreign cardinals to the Italians is in Raynaldus, vii. 
p. 328. 

18 273 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

The delay of the Sacred College in coming to a rupture wit J 
Urban had been in part due to the opposition of Pedro de Luna. 
m My j orc l f Geneva says that 1 am too conscientious/* he said 
to Alvarez Martinez, a Spaniard attached to the Curia : " I 
certainly wish to see, and to see clearly, where the right lies ; for 
I tell you that, if I were now to agree with them, and afterwards 
were in Avignon and found that by right this man was true 
Pope, I should go to him even barefoot, if I could not otherwise/' l 
But at length, apparently sincerely converted by the arguments 
of his colleagues, he wrote to Fra Gonsalvo at Rome, asking him 
to come to him on important business. w I sent for you/' he 
began, when the friar arrived, u that you might hear my con- 
fession, and that I might be comforted by your presence ; but I 
must first ask you if you believe that the man at Tivoli is Pope, 
for, in that case, I think you cannot absolve me/' li O holy 
Mother of God ! M exclaimed the Dominican, M what is this ? Do 
not flatter yourself, my lord Cardinal, that those words are written 
in water that you so often spoke to me in Rome to the contrary. 
What can you now answer to what you yourself then told me 
so frankly, as to your faithful son, your lover, your fellow- 
countryman ? M The Cardinal, showing some embarrassment, 
admitted that he had come to Anagni with the intention of 
reconciling his colleagues with Urban, but declared himself now 
convinced that the latter was not Pope, To Gonsalvo's retort 
that the whole lot of them were being seduced by the devil, the 
Cardinal "answered right humbly that it was possible, for he was 
a mere man." He admitted that, if it had not been for Urban's 
behaviour, they would still have been with him, and professed 
his dread of schism, to avert which he asked Gonsalvo to exhort 
the Pope spontaneously to renounce the papacy, in order that 
they might proceed to a free election, Gonsalvo, **to escape 
from the snare into which I had fallen/' accepted the commission, 
and the Cardinal paid his expenses back to Rome.* 2 

1 Baluze f I. col.i 182. 

* Deposition of Fra Gonsalvo, MS. cit. s fF. 630.-65. 

274 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 



Here he found Urban at S. Maria Maggiore, whither he had 
removed from Tivoli at the beginning of August, after having 
signed the peace with the Florentines. Tebaldeschi was the only 
cardinal in Rome — the other three Italians, at the end of July, 
having gone to Vicovaro and thence to Falestrina, where they 
were ostensibly negotiating with the Sacred College on Urban*s 
behalf, in reality attempting to keep neutral. " I went to our 
lord the Pope," writes Gonsalvo, "and, after telling him my 
message concerning his abdication, I exhorted him, in the name of 
God, to dissipate the ambitious hosts of the devil which were 
mustering against him, and to take aid from God and all the 
Saints. But he, like a soldier who at length hears certain tidings 
that the longed-for war is decided upon, rejoiced, and answered 
me with joy : * In God's own truth, I should reck little of laying 
down the papacy ; but I will not resign to give place to the devil 
and make sinners exult. Nay, I will abide and beat them down 
in the name of the Lord our God/ M ' 

In the meanwhile, the Cardinals of Geneva, Poitiers, and 
Sant* Eustachio had been sent by their colleagues to Palestrtna 
to induce the three Italians to come to Anagni ; but without 
result. They now decided to proceed without them. On 
August 9> thirteen cardinals solemnly entered the cathedral of 
Anagni. After the Mass of the Holy Spirit had been sung, 
Jacopo d* Itri, Patriarch of Constantinople, preached from the text : 
In te oculs respiciunt totius Israel^ ut indices eis quu sedere debeat in 
solio tuo? The history of the usurpation of the kingdom by 
Adonijah the son of Haggith was, he declared, a figure of the 
present state of the Church, " Let us turn the eyes of our mind 
to our Queen, the glorious Virgin, that she may deign to plead 
our cause in the presence of the King her Son. The sheep of 
Christ's pasture are wandering through steep and devious ways, 
even as flocks that have no shepherd ; he who usurpeth the name 
of shepherd, is not the shepherd, for he has not entered by the 

1 MS. rit. f f. 65*'. (also in Raynaldus, vii, p, 318}. 

2 "The eyes of all Israel arc upon thee, that thou shotildest tell them who shall 
sit on the throne of my lord the king after him " (A.V., 1 Kings L 20), 

275 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



door into the sheepfold ; he whose own the sheep are not, c 
not to guard them from the invading wolves, from the roaring 
lions that are seeking to devour. Say, we beseech thee, O 
Queen, to the King : My only Son and my Lord, who didst lay 
down Thy life for all these, who didst redeem them by Thy 
precious blood, to place them on Thy right hand at the Day of 
Judgment ; do Thou, the charioteer and the chariot of Israel, 
deliver them from the spoiler, and appoint a ruler and a shepherd 
over them. Instead of Adonijah who hath exalted himself in his 
pride, appoint unto them a meek and peaceful Solomon." x An 
encyclical letter signed by all the cardinals at Anagni was then 
read aloud, denouncing the intrusion into the papacy of the late 
Archbishop of Bari, declaring that they had only elected him to 
escape the peril of death, anathematizing him as an antipope, a 
deceiver and destroyer of Christians. They had previously 
addressed a letter to him in similar terms, exhorting him, " by 
the bowels of the mercy of Jesus Christ, whose Church and 
Spouse thou hast not blushed to invade/' to lay down his usurped 
dignity, and strive to make amends by true penitence. 2 On 
August 27, for greater security, the Sacred College moved from 
Anagni to Fondi, to hold a fresh election under the protection of 
Onorato GaetanL 

The three Italian cardinals were now at Subiaco, where they 
kept in touch with both parties by letters and messengers, 
labouring, as they afterwards declared, "to deliver the Church from 
scandal and division, and to bring about her peace and union." 
At length, on September 4, they wrote to Urban from Suessa 
that they were about to take action, and were awaiting an answer 
from the other cardinals to know how to proceed. Shortly 
afterwards, they joined the Sacred College at Fondi ; there is 
some evidence, from Clementine as well as Urbanist sources, that 
each of the three believed that he himself was to be the new Pope. 8 

1 Archwk I'athano, LIV. 31, ff, 4.0.-79, Many MSS. of this sermon have 
been preserved, 

3 Texts in Du Boutav, IV. pp. 467-478. 

3 Cf. Gayct, doc, 27 ; T. de Nycm, L 10 ; Baluzc, I. col. I137. 

276 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 

In the meanwhile, Francesco Tebaldeschi, the last cardinal 
who adhered to Urban, died at Rome on September 6, A 
dying declaration, purporting to be his, was produced, to the 
effect that he died in the conviction that Urban VI was lawfully 
and canonically elected Pope. It seems certain that this was his 
belief, but by no means improbable that the document was forged 
in Urban's interests, 1 The Roman Pontiff was now left alone. 

Queen Giovanna had received the first tidings of the elevation 
of her subject to the papacy with every manifestation of delight, and 
had sent a force of troops to Tivoli to guard his person, after the 
engagement at the Ponte Salario. But at the end of August, 
whether offended by Urban's treatment of her husband Otho, or 
seduced by her chancellor, Niccolo Spinelli, with whom the Pope 
had quarrelled, or really impressed by the declaration of the Sacred 
College, she turned against him, and sent the Count of Caserta 
with Niccolo Spinelli himself as her representatives to Fondi. 2 
She was supported in this course, if, indeed, it had not first been 
suggested to her, by a letter from the King of France. 

Early in April, the Cardinal of Amiens and Pierre de Cros 
had warned the King not to trust the official accounts of the 
election. In May, a month after the event, Urban had tardily 
notified his elevation to Charles by two envoys who arrived at 
Paris in June : Cecco Tortelli, a Neapolitan knight, and Pierre de 
Murles, a kinsman of Cardinal d'Aigrefeuille. The former was 
faithful to his countryman. The latter had secretly accepted a 
rival mission from the chamberlain and the French cardinals. 
While ostensibly acting as the envoy of the Pope and affirming 
Urban's lawful election, he privately warned the King that this 
was not the whole truth, and gave a vivid account of the violence 
to which the Sacred College had been subjected. 3 Not un- 

1 Cf. Raynaldus, vii. pp. 328, 329 ; Gayet, II. pp. 268-274 j Valois, L p. 72. 

» Cf. T, de Nyem, I. 7, 8 j Valois, I. pp. 77, 78. There was a report 
spread that Urban intended to give the kingdom of Naples to Louis of Hungary, 
and to send Giovanna to end her days in a convent. 

8 Valois, I. pp. 90-93. Cf. Relation of Jean le Fevrc in Du Boulay, IV. 
p. 523, and the deposition of Pierre de Cros in Gayet, doc. 23. 

277 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

naturally, Charles declared that he must wait for more information 
before proceeding further in the recognition of the new Pope. 
At Avignon itself there was division ; two of the six cardinals, 
Anglico de Grimoard (as might have been expected from his past 
career) and the Cardinal of Pamplona, were unwilling to re* 
nounce allegiance to the man whom their colleagues at Rome 
had at first announced as Pope, and they even wrote to bid the 
custodians of Sant' Angelo surrender. But in August, a Francis- 
can friar, who had been confessor to the French Queen, came 
from Anagni with the formal declaration of the invalidity of 
Urban's election ; Charles accepted it, and wrote to the Queen of 
Naples assuring her of the applause of the world and of his own 
gratitude, if she would take the part of the cardinals and be the 
defender of the Church. 1 A little later, the Bishop of Farma- 
gosta and Fra Niccolo da San Saturnino, the Dominican master of 
the Sacred Palace, arrived at Avignon on their way to Paris, with 
letters to the King, the Parliament, and the University. The six 
cardinals now definitely made common cause with their colleagues. 
At Paris, on September 13, the general assembly of the clergy of 
France decided that more information was needed, and advised 
the King not to commit himself. The latter, however, had 
already made up his mind ; he had offered his aid to the 
cardinals at Fondi ; and there can be little doubt that, although 
he did not at first publicly adhere to him, the second claimant to 
the papacy could fairly claim to have accepted the papal title 
with his full approval, cum tuo sujfi'agio, as he wrote a few 
months later. 2 

The new conclave was held in the palace of the Count of 
Fondi, on September 20. The three Italians wished the election 
to be effected by way of compromise, the whole to be put into 
the hands of six cardinals, including themselves as three. This 
was negatived. Cardinal Corsini, as dean of the Sacred College, 
should have nominated a candidate, but he excused himself ; upon 
which the Cardinal of Limoges proposed the Cardinal of Geneva, 
who was unanimously elected. The three Italians abstained from 

1 Text of letter in Valois, L p. 99*, * Valois, I. pp. 107, 108. 

278 



THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHISM 




voting, but raised no objection. According to Pedro de Luna, 
they stated that they did this because of the danger that would 
otherwise involve their kindred and their goods, but he himself 
believed that they were discontented with the result, 1 On the 
following day, Robert of Geneva was proclaimed Pope as 
Clement VII, and, on October "3 1\ he was solemnly crowned 
in the cathedral of Fondt, 

The new Supreme Pontiff was proclaimed at Avignon on 
October 13; but the King of France still delayed taking the 
final step, until November 16, when, being so advised by a 
council assembled at Vineennes, he at length declared that he 
recognized Clement VII as lawful Pope. 

But he had been anticipated throughout by his brother. 
Louis of Anjou, always dreaming of emulating the great Charles 
of his house who had conquered Naples, listened to the first 
appeal of the Sacred College, brought to him by Jean de Bar, 
He lent large sums of money to the cardinals, declared that the 
Count of Fondi was the anchor that Christ had provided for 
the salvation of the bark of Peter, acclaimed the election of 
Clement as the elevation of a personal friend, 2 and laid his sword 
and power at his feet— on the understanding, as was soon shown, 
that a very substantial reward should be his. 

Queen Giovanna had already sent the Archbishop of Cosenza 
to congratulate Clement on his election, and an illustrious embassy 
of the noblest in her kingdom to assist at the coronation. It 
was not, however, until November 20 (four days after the King 
of France) that she made her solemn declaration in his favour. 
At the same time, she ordered the arrest of all Urbanist emissaries, 
and paid to Clement the 64,000 florins that she owed the Pope 
as her tribute to the Holy See. 3 The rest of Italy* with the ex- 
ception of Savoy, Piedmont, and Monferrato, adhered to Urban, 
and Coluccio Salutati could freely, in the name of the Republic of 
Florence, pour forth the same torrents of fiery rhetoric upon the 
Clementine cardinals as he had previously employed against 

1 Gayct f doc. 31 ; Sorbelli, p. 268. 
* See Valois, I. pp. 1 5 1 *., 1 57 *. s Ibid., p. 160. 

279 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Urban's predecessor in the papacy. Only a few feudal nobles, 
like Francesco di Vico, the tyrant of Vitcrbo and titular prefect 
of Rome, openly opposed the Roman claimant — although Gian 
Galeazzo Visconti, who had succeeded his father Galeazzo as 
lord of Pavia in August, was married to a sister of the French 
King, and probably already contemplated the union of the whole 
Milanese dominion in his own person, secretly kept in touch 
with Louis of Anjou and the Clementine leaders. 

From the outset, the Emperor Charles IV accepted Urban 
as lawful Pope, and vigorously supported his cause. Dying in 
November, 1378, he instructed his son and successor, Wenceslaus 
(whom Urban, after much delay, had recognized as King of the 
Romans at Tivoli, on July 26), to pursue the same course. But 
he did not carry all Germany with him, The Dukes of Bavaria, 
Luxemburg (the Emperor*s own brother), and Lorraine, the 
Archbishop of Mayence, and, in general, the princes of the 
Empire most in touch with France, declared for Clement* 
Hostility to France led the counsellors of Richard II to adhere 
so fanatically to Urban that they refused to hear the other side ; 
the Cardinal of Poitiers, appointed Clementine legate to 
England, was denied admission into the country ; and those 
portions of France still subject to the English were compelled 
to adopt the faith of their rulers. Scotland acknowledged 
Clement, as also did Brittany, while Flanders was Urban ist, 
Louis of Hungary and Poland, then at the height of his power, 
after some delay, adhered to Urban. Charles the Bad of Navarre 
and Ferdinand of Portugal did not commit themselves. The 
Kings of Aragon and Castile, Pedro IV and Henry II, de- 
termined for the present to remain strictly neutral ; and it is to 
the investigations of the ambassadors of Pedro and of Henry's 
successor, Juan I, that we owe the series of depositions and 
testimonies now preserved in the Vatican Archives upon which 
much of our knowledge of the details of the events that caused 
the Great Schism is ultimately based. 



280 



CHAPTER XIII 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



11 Prega la somma etema BonU t![ Dio, che oe faccia quello che aia »uo onore e salute 
dell' anima; e spedalmente ora, che sono per andare a Roma per com pi re la volontft dl 
Crlato croclfiito e del vicario iuo."- St. Catherine* Letter 316 (165), 

At the first rumour of a misunderstanding between the 
Sacred College and the Pope, Catherine had addressed an im- 
passioned letter from Florence to Pedro de Luna : " with desire 
of seeing you a firm column, set in the garden of Holy Church, 
freed from that self-love which weakens every creature that has 
reason. 1 ' "I seem to have heard," she wrote, u that discord is 
arising over there between Christ on earth and his disciples, from 
which I receive intolerable sorrow* for the mere dread that I 
have of heresy, which I fear greatly may come because of my 
sins. And, therefore, I beseech you, by that glorious and precious 
blood which was shed with such great fire of love, never to sever 
yourself from virtue and from your head. All other things — 
external war and other tribulations — would seem to us less than 
a straw or a shadow in comparison with this." l 

Catherine had returned to Siena a few days before the solemn 
denunciation of Urban's usurpation of the papacy, at Anagni 
on August 9, announced the imminence of a schism in the 
Church. From her native city, she now beheld with unutterable 
anguish what men called the rending of the coat of Christ that 
was without seam. There can be no doubt that she heard only 
the extreme Urbanist version of what had happened, and she 
accepted it unreservedly with all the passionate fervour of her 
soul. <c O men, not men, but rather demons visible," she cries, 
apostrophizing the cardinals, "how does the inordinate love that 
you have set on the dunghill of your own bodies, and on the 

1 Letter 293 (26). A better text is in the Palatine MS. 56, from which I 
quote* 

281 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

delights and states of the world, blind you so, that, when the 
vicar of Christ, he whom you elected by a canonical election, 
wishes to correct your lives and that you should be sweet-smelling 
flowers in the garden of Holy Church, you now spread poison, 
and say he is not true Pope, but that you did it for fear, and 
for dread of the fury of the people ? This is not the truth ; 
and, if it had been, you were worthy of death for having elected 
the Pope with fear of men and not with fear of God. But this 
you cannot say, or, if you say it, cannot prove it ; for what you 
did with fear, to appease the people, appeared manifestly to all 
when you put the mantle of St, Peter upon Messer di San Pietro, 
and said that you had chosen him Pope. This was seen not to 
be the truth ; and it was found so, when the tumult ceased ; and 
so he confessed, and you, too, that he was not Pope, but Messer 
Bartolommeo, Archbishop of Ban, was elected Pope. And what 
moved you, if the latter was not Pope, to re-elect him then afresh, 
with an orderly election, without any violence, and to crown 
him with such great solemnity, with all the order that is required 
for this function, as had not been done in the election of any ot 
his predecessors ? But I know what moves you to denounce 
him to the contrary : your self-love, which can brook no correc- 
tion. For, before he began to bite you with words, and wished 
to draw the thorns out of the sweet garden, you confessed and 
announced to us, little sheep, that Pope Urban VI was true Pope. 
And so I confess, arid do not deny him, that he is the vicar of 
Christ, who holds the keys of the blood in truth ; which truth 
shall not be confounded by the liars and wicked men of the world, 
for the truth is the thing that sets us free. O wretches I you see 
not how you have fallen, because you have deprived yourselves 
of light. You have taken the poison for yourselves, but why do 
you give it to others ? Have you no pity upon so many little 
sheep, who for this are leaving the fold?" l 

And to the Count of Fondi, a few weeks before the election 
of Clement, she wrote that self-love and wicked anger had 
poisoned and corrupted him who should be a true worker in the 
1 Letter 312 (315), dated October 8, 1378, in the Harleian MS. 

282 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



vineyard of the soul, u O dearest father, consider your position 
and look at your vineyard. In the secret of your heart, you hold 
that Pope Urban VI is the true Sovereign Pontiff ; and whoso 
says otherwise is a heretic, rejected by God, no faithful Catholic, 
but a renegade Christian who denies his faith. We are bound to 
hold that he is the Pope, canonically elected, the vicar of Christ 
on earth, and we are bound to obey him even unto death. Even 
if he were so cruel a father as to hunt us with reproaches and 
with every torment from one end of the world to the other, we 
are still bound not to forget nor to persecute this truth. And 
if you said to me : * On the contrary, I have been informed that 
Pope Urban VI is not in truth the Sovereign Pontiff* ; I should 
answer that I know that God has given you so much light that, 
if you do not deprive yourself of it by the darkness of anger and 
resentment, you will know that whoso says this lies upon his 
own head. They make themselves liars, by retracting the truth 
that they delivered to us, and represent it as a lie, I know well 
that you know what has moved those who were set in the place 
of truth that they might spread the faith. Now they have con- 
taminated the faith and denied the truth ; they have raised such 
a schism in Holy Church that they are worthy of a thousand 
deaths* You will find that nought else has moved them save 
that passion which has moved you yourself, to wit, self-love 
which could not endure a harsh word or rebuke, nor to be 
deprived of territory, but conceived resentment and brought 
forth anger as child. By this they, and all who act against this 
truth, are depriving themselves of the goods of heaven. The 
evidence that can be seen of this truth is so plain and so clear 
and so manifest, that even the most unlearned person can see and 
understand it." l 

Two of those for whose spiritual welfare she had been specially 
solicitous and upon whom she had based great hopes as possible 
champions of Christ and the Church— Duke Louis of Anjou 
and Queen Giovanna of Naples — were among the first to reject 
this truth, which to Catherine seemed so clear and manifest, 
1 Letter 313 (192), revised by the Harlcian MS, 

283 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Pedro de Luna himself, the pious and charitable Cardinal of 
Aragon, had become one of the u incarnate demons/' The prior- 
general of the Carthusians, Guillaume Rainaud, was preparing to 
lead his flock into the Clementine fold, and Catherine's appeal to 
him, written in her name by Stefano Maconi, passed unheeded* 1 
She was doubtless to be spared the knowledge that a young 
Dominican, born three years after herself and just ordained priest 
by the hands of Pedro de Luna, of life as holy and of eloquence 
only less fervid than her own, destined to be raised to the altars 
of the Church as St, Vincent Ferrer, was throwing himself heart 
and soul into the conflict on behalf of Clement, and by his word 
and pen was soon to draw Spain from her attitude of neutrality 
to recognize the Pope of Avignon, 2 But she already saw the 
shining lights of the order passing into the enemy's camp; her 
zealous and devout master-general, Fra Elias of Toulouse, 
accepted Clement as Pope ; the eloquence of the master of 
the Sacred Palace, Fra Niccolo da San Saturnino, had been 
employed on behalf of the cardinals at Anagni, The time has 
come, she writes to Suora Daniella of Orvieto, to take the food 
of souls, by offering up humble and continual prayers with im- 
passioned desire to God, at the table of the Cross. M It is the 
time for this at all times ; but neither thou nor any one else 
ever saw another time of greater necessity* Bethink thee, 
daughter mine, with sorrow and bitterness, of the darkness that 
has come into Holy Church. Human aid seems to be failing 
us ; it befits thee and the other servants of God to invoke His 
aid. Look to it not to be negligent ; it is time to watch and not 
to sleep. Thou knowest well that, if the guards and others of 
the city slept when the enemy were at the gates, there is no 
doubt that they would lose it. We are surrounded by many 
enemies ; for thou knowest that the world and our own frailty 



1 Cf, Bartholomaeus Senensis, op. at. y Lib. III. cap. 2. This letter, now lost, 
is not to be confused with Letter 55 (53), written to Dom Guillaume at an 
earlier date. 

2 Hfs treatise, De Moderno EccUsiae Schismafe, was dedicated to the King of 
Aragon in 1 380. 

284 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



and the demon, with the many thoughts he brings, never sleep, 
but are always ready to see if we are sleeping, to be able to enter 
in, and like thieves plunder the city of the soul ; and, even as 
our own soul, so, too, is the mystical body of Holy Church 
surrounded by many enemies. Thus thou seest that those who 
are set for columns and supporters of Holy Church have become 
her persecutors, with the darkness of heresy. We must not sleep, 
but defeat them with vigils, tears, sweat, with mournful and 
loving desires, with humble and continual prayer. Like a faith- 
ful daughter of Holy Church, pray and constrain the most high 
and sweet God to help us now in this need ; and pray Him to 
strengthen the Holy Father and give him light* I speak of Pope 
Urban VI, truly Pope and vicar of Christ on earth. And so I 
confess, and we are bound to confess, before all the world ; and 
on no account must we believe whoso should say or hold the 
contrary, but rather choose death/* l 

For more than three months, Catherine remained quietly at 
Siena, dictating to her secretaries her great mystical book, the 
DiahgOy which she finished in October, and her letters which she 
was despatching in all directions, while she awaited the summons 
to fight her last battle in the Eternal City. 

The dates have been preserved in the manuscripts of an 
unusual number of the letters that she wrote or dictated during 
these months, beginning with one on August 27, to Madonna 
Lodovica di Granello Tolomei, on true and perfect charity. 2 We 
find her writing to Pope Urban himself, on September 18, urging 
him to reform the morals of the clergy, to appoint virtuous 
bishops, to surround himself with the servants of God and to 
lean upon their counsel. 3 On this very day, at Rome, Urban 
was creating a new College of cardinals to take the place of those 
who had deserted him, but six of the twenty-nine he had nomin- 
ated (including the Bishop of Autun, who afterwards received 
it from Clement) refused to accept the hat from his hands. With 
the exception of Fra Bonaventura Badoara and the Archbishop of 



1 Letter 308 (164). 



2 Letter 304 (345), 



8 Letter 305 (17). 
285 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Pisa, the others were either men of small note or appointed for 
political reasons ; they included Pileo da Prata, Archbishop of 
Ravenna, Agapito Colonna, and Philippe de Alen^on, the 
Patriarch of Jerusalem, a kinsman of the King of France. The 
Bishop of London, William Courtenay, was among those who 
declined the papal offer. On October 4, Catherine wrote to Monna 
Agnese, the wife of the Florentine tailor, tenderly forbidding her 
to practise excessive and imprudent austerities ; l and, on October 
5, to Pope Urban again, the news of Clement's election having 
reached her : * with the desire of seeing you robed in the strong 
garment of most ardent charity, in order that the blows that are 
hurled at you by the wicked men of the world, lovers of them- 
selves, may not be able to harm you/ 1 In the strength of this 
garment, let him fearlessly enter the battle against the Antichrist 
that the incarnate demons have raised up against him. 2 She 
wrote, on October 8, to the Queen of Naples, imploring her not 
to pervert the light into darkness by aiding the cardinals or 
acknowledging their Antipope ; let her, at least, remain neutral 
until the truth is made manifest to her, 3 A letter to the tailor 
Francesco and his wife, a letter of spiritual comfort and exhorta- 
tion, dated October 13, has a peculiarly interesting postscript: 
" I pray you to take at once to Giannozzo the letter that I send 
you with this, and do not fail to take it to him wherever he is/' 1 
Here we find Catherine in direct communication with Giannozzo 
Sacchetti, and, in the light of his tragic fate in the following 
year, it would have been of very great, even painful interest, to 
know what was the subject of the Saint's letter to him. A letter 
to a Florentine lady, on the patient reception of tribulations, with 
what seems a reference to the harsh judgments passed upon her 
own mission to Florence, is of October 20. 6 On October 23, 






1 Bibl. Nazionale di Firenze, MS. xxxviii, 130. 

2 Letter 306 (18). B Letter 312 (315). 
4 Bibl. Nazionale di Fircnze, MS. tit, 
& Letter 307 {368), In several MSS. it is dated "a dl xx d'Octobre a 

Firenze, 1378," the address having got confused with the text. Catherine was 
at Siena and her correspondent at Florence, 

286 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



she wrote to a certain Giovanni da Parma in Rome, whose 
conscience was disturbed by some unnamed book that he had 
been studying : God has given us a book* His Word, the Son of 
God, which was written on the Cross, not with ink but with blood, 
a book that the most unlettered and dull of apprehension can 
read ; u and I am certain that, if you will read in this sweet book, 
your book, by which you seem to be so harassed, will not give 
you any trouble." l To Tora di Messer Piero Gambacorti, after- 
wards known in the history of the Dominican order as the Beata 
Chiara, who, after much opposition from her father, had just, by 
the intervention of Alfonso da Vadaterra, been allowed to take 
the veil, Catherine wrote, on October 26, warning her that the 
Divine Bridegroom whom she had chosen is very jealous, and 
urging her as soon as possible to become His true servant and 
bride/ 2 

At last the summons came from Urban, who realized to the 
full what a weapon the venerated maiden of Siena would be 
in his hands, to come to Rome. Raimondo tells us that she at 
first pleaded that her constant journeys scandalized many in Siena, 
and some of her own sisters in religion ; she required an express 
order from the Pope, that it might be quite clear that she was 
acting under holy obedience. 3 " By the great goodness of God, 
and by the command of the Holy Father," she wrote, on 
November 4, to the tailor Francesco, u I believe that I am going 
to Rome about the middle of this month, more or less, as shall 
please God, and we shall go by land ; so I tell you this as I 
promised you. Pray God to make us fulfil His will. 1 pray 
you, Francesco, for the love of Christ crucified, to take the 
trouble of delivering the letters which I am sending you with 
this, quickly for the honour of God and to please me. Go to 
Monna Pavola and tell her, if she has not had what she wanted 
from court, to write to me, and I will do for her as for my 

1 Letter 309 (299). 

[ f Letter 262 {322) ; the date (with some additional matter) is in the MS. 
xxxviii. 130 of the Bibl. Nazionale di Fircnze. 
* Lrgemta, HI. L 3 (§ 333). 

287 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



mother* Tell her to pray, and to make all her daughters pra^ 
for us. Find Niecolo, the poor man of Romagna, and tell him 
that 1 am about to go to Rome, and that he must take heart and 
pray to God for us/' 1 u Pray the supreme eternal goodness of 
God," she wrote to Suora Daniella, u that He may do with us 
what may be His honour and the salvation of souls ; and especially 
now that I am to go to Rome to fulfil the will of Christ crucified 
and of His vicar. I do not know which way I shall take. Pray 
Christ sweet Jesus that He send us by that which is most to His 
honour, with peace and quiet to our souls. 1 ' 2 

Catherine reached Rome on November 28, 1378, the first 
Sunday in Advent, con molta pace % as she wrote to Stefano Maconi, 
who was detained at Siena by family affairs. 3 A large band of 
men and women accompanied her, including Alessa, Cecca, Lisa, 
Giovanna di Capo, Neri di Landoccio, Barduccio Canigiani, 
Gabriele Piccoloniini, Fra Bartolommeo di Domenico, Fra Santi, 
and Giovanni Tantucci. " Many more would have come," writes 
Raimondo, ** if she had not forbidden it. Those who came 
committed themselves to the Divine Providence in voluntary 
poverty, choosing rather to go wandering and begging with the 
holy virgin, than, by staying in comfort in their own houses, to be 
deprived of such sweet and virtuous conversation/' i Raimondo 
himself, who was still prior of the Minerva, met them in Rome, 
and La pa seems to have joined them later. On November 30, 
Lando di Francesco, then in Rome as ambassador of Siena to 
obtain the restitution of Talamone, wrote to the Signoria : 
11 Caterina di Monna Lapa has come here, and our lord the Pope 
has seen and heard her right gladly. It is not known what he 

1 Sec Appendix, Letter V. Monna Pavola, the head of a house of spiritual 
women in Fiesole, and Niccol6, a Romagnolc beggar in Florence, were already 
among Catherine's correspondents. 

2 Letter 316 (165). 

3 Letter 319 (255), A portion of this letter, apparently in Barduccio's 
autograph, is preserved in the MS. T. iii. 3, at Siena. The statement of Barth. 
Senensis, <?/. a/., Lib, I. cap* 10, that Stefano accompanied Catherine to Rome 
and wished to be sent as her ambassador to Naples, is manifestly erroneous. 



Legtnda % III. i, 3 (§ 333), 



2*8 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 

has asked of her, but he was glad to see hen Castetlo Sant T 
Angelo is still holding out, and the Romans are bombarding it 
daily." » 

Urban received Catherine in a public audience, surrounded 
by those of his new cardinals who were in Rome, At his 
bidding, she addressed them, urging them to constancy and faith 
in the Divine Providence. u This poor little woman puts us to 
shame by her courage/ 1 he said, when she had finished ; u what 
need the vicar of Jesus Christ fear, although the whole world 
stand against him ? Christ the Almighty is more powerful than 
the world, and He will never abandon His Church." 2 

The situation was full of peril. Francesco di Vico from 
Viterbo was ravaging the Patrimony, Giordano Orsini at Marino 
could threaten the very gates of Rome, Clement had armed 
galleys at the mouth of the Tiber to intercept Urban*s com- 
munication with the sea, while in the Neapolitan territory and 
elsewhere troops were being collected, to decide the quarrel by 
force of arms. The Romans had taken the siege of Castello Sant* 
Angelo into their own hands, but could not prevail over the 
vigorous resistance of the two French captains, and Urban, unable 
to take up his residence in the Vatican, was coihpeUecTto remain 
at S, Maria in Trastevere. Here, on November 29, the day 
afef "Catherine's arrival, he issued a bull anathematizing the 
u nurslings of iniquity and sons of perdition " : Clement himself, 
the ex-Cardinals of Amiens, Marmoutier, and Sant' Eustachio ; 
the Count of Fondi ; Pierre de Cros, the Patriarch of Con- 
stantinople, the Archbishop of Cosenza, and a number of other 
prelates; the Count of Caserta, Francesco di Vico, Niccolo Spinelli, 
and the three leaders of the Breton and Gascon mercenaries, 
Jean de Malestroit, Silvestre Budes, and Bernardon de la Salle. 3 

1 Letter e del discepofi, 10. 

* Legend^ 111. i. 4 (§ 334). 

s Raynaldus, vii. pp. 362-366. Cf Valois, I. p. 162. In December, Clement 
made Pierre dc Cros, the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Archbishop of Cosenza, 
and Fra Niccolo da San Saturn i no cardinals, together with the minister- general 
of the Friars Minor, Fra Leonardo de* Griffon i. 
19 289 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



proceed 



Pedro de Luna 



Urban's evident unwillingness to proceed against redro de l^una is 
noticeable, as also the fact that the bull still speaks of the three 
Italian cardinals, Corsini, Brossano, and Jacopo Orsini, who had 
retired to Tagltacozzo after the election of Clement, as "our 
venerable brother and our beloved sons. M It is clear that he did 
not yet regard them as his enemies. 

There is something heroic (tragically pathetic, even, in the 
light of his subsequent fall) in the figure of this coarse- 
grained, violent, and implacable man, firmly believing in the 
justice of his own claims to be the vicar of the Prince of 
Peace, surrounded by men who were prepared to turn 
against him when it should serve their purposes, thus setting 
out to batde against the world in what he deemed the cause of 
righteousness, with the pale, ecstatic figure of the stigmatized 
Bride of Christ by his side. His first impulse was to employ 
her for the conversion of the Queen of Naples, sending her 
and Catherine of Sweden together as his ambassadors to win 
her over to his side, Catherine of Siena accepted the mission 
with alacrity and enthusiasm ; but Catherine of Sweden, who 
remembered with lively horror what she had seen of the court 
of Naples at the time of her brother's death, absolutely 
refused to go* Fra Raimondo, who also knew more of 
his sovereign and her ways than did his spiritual mistress, 
was so much impressed by the Swedish maiden's fears that 
he frankly opened his mind to Urban on the subject ; and the 
latter, after some thought, decided that it was better that 
they should not go. Catherine, yearning like a mother over 
the Queen's soul, and longing herself for martyrdom, was 
bitterly disappointed. " If Agnes and Margaret had thought 
upon these things/* she said, "they would never have won 
the crown of martyrdom* Is not our Bridegroom able to 
protect us ? These are vain considerations, which proceed from 
lack of faith rather than from true prudence," 1 She had, for 

1 Legtnda, III. I 5 (§335). Cf. Comtesse de Flavigny, Saint* Brigittt de Suide 9 
pp. 532-537, but I can find no evidence of any direct intercourse between the 
two Catherines. 

29O 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 

the present, to content herself with sending another flaming 
letter to Giovanna, once more urging the Urbanist case upon 
her, threatening her with the divine vengeance and the rebel- 
lion of her own subjects as the result of her vacillations* 
"I beseech you," she wrote, u fulfil in yourself the will of 
God and the desire of my soul, with which I desire, with all 
my heart and with all the powers of my soul, your salvation. 
And, therefore, constrained by the Divine Goodness which 
loves you ineffably, I have set myself to write to you with 
great grief. I wrote to you once before about this matter. 
Have patience, if I burden you too much with words, and if 
I speak to you confidently, irreverently. The love that I 
bear you makes me speak with confidence ; the sin that you 
have committed makes me depart from the reverence I owe 
you, and speak irreverently* Very much more am I fain to tell 
you the truth by word of mouth, for your salvation, and 
principally for the honour of God, than by writing." l For 
some while, Catherine continued to hope that she might still 
be able to go to Naples, and win the wayward soul of the 
Queen to what she deemed " the truth that we must know 
and love for our salvation," 

Another and more grievous disappointment awaited Catherine. 
In November, Urban had decided to send a second embassy to 
France, and his choice had fallen upon Fra Raimondo as one 
of the ambassadors, The other was Jacopo di Ceva, " marshal 
of the Roman Curia/ 1 the same official who had acted as Pope 
Gregory's procurator in the process against the Florentines ; 
and they were to be joined on their arrival by a third, 
Guillaume de la Voulte, whom Urban had transferred from 
the bishopric of Marseilles to that of Valence, and who had 
not yet joined the Clementines. The friar was charged with 
briefs to the King, to the University of Paris (which was 
divided on the question of the day, one strong party still 
favouring Urban, while another desired an appeal to a General 
Council), to the Duke of Anjou, to Cardinal de Grimoard, 

1 Letter 317 (316). 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

and various French bishops. 1 Early in December, Raimondo 
set out* After more than a year's separation, they had only 
passed a few days in each other's company, and Catherine, 
while urging him to go in the service of the Church, felt the 
separation most keenly. Instinctively, she knew that the long 
conversation they had together before he started was to be 
their last : " We shall never speak like this to each other 
again," she said. The ship lay waiting in the Tiber, that was 
to take him to Pisa. Catherine accompanied him to the bank ; 
when the sailors began to row, she knelt awhile in prayer, 
and then, rising and weeping, made the sign of the Cross as 
the ship passed away. " She seemed to be saying," writes 
the friar: "thou, my son, wilt go in safety, for the sign of 
the holy Cross is protecting thee ; but, in this life, thou shalt 
never see thy mother more/' 

Raimondo's ship, in spite of the Clementine galleys that 
were guarding the mouth of the Tiber and scouring all the 
Italian coast, reached Pisa in safety. Here he received a 
letter from Catherine, written u with desire of seeing you 
illumined with a true and most perfect light." " Do you 
know," she asks, ** how much my soul desires this ? As 
much as she desires herself to be delivered from darkness, and 
to be united and blended with the light, I beseech you, by the 
love of Christ crucified and of that sweet Mother Mary, that 
you strive, to the utmost of your power, to fulfil in yourself 
the will of God and my desire ; for then will my soul be 
blessed. It is no longer time to sleep, but to wake up from 
the slumber of negligence and rise up from the blindness of 
ignorance, and royally espouse the truth with the ring of 
most holy faith, and proclaim that truth, never keeping it 



1 Cf. Denize, Chartulartum Umvtrsitatis Parhiensis, Tom. iii, pp. 66$-66$* 
The brief, giving the friar authority for preaching and acting against the election 
of Clement, is dated November 8, the others November 21 and 28 ; but it is clear 
from Raimondo's own words in the Legenda that he left Rome at least some days 
after Catherine's arrival, and her Letter 323 (54) shows that he had started by 
December 13. 

292 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 

silent for any fear ; but be prepared boldly and generously 
to give one's life, if need be, all inebriated with the blood of 
the humble and immaculate Lamb, drawing it from the breast 
of His most sweet Spouse, Holy Church, which we see all 
dismembered/' 1 The friar continued his journey by sea to 
Genoa, and thence by land to Ventimiglia. jacopo di Ceva 
was arrested at the frontier by the soldiers of the Count of 
Geneva, Clement's brother. Raimondo himself received a 
warning that an ambush was set for him and that his death 
was certain, if he went any further ; he returned to Genoa, 
and reported what had happened to Urban, who bade him stay 
where he was and preach the crusade against the Clementines. 2 
The Pope appears to have been perfectly satisfied with his 
conduct ; but to Catherine it seemed a betrayal of the truth, 
a pusillanimous flight from martyrdom, "God has wished 
you to know your own imperfection," she wrote, "showing 
you that you are still a child that needs milk, and not a man 
to live on bread ; for if He had seen that you had teeth for 
it, He would have given it to you, even as He did to your 
companions. You were not yet worthy to stay upon the field 
of battle, but you were driven back like a child ; and you 
fled away willingly, and were glad at the grace that God 
granted to your weakness. Naughty father mine, how blessed 
would your soul and mine have been, if with your blood you 
had built up a stone in Holy Church for love of the blood t ft ' 

In the meanwhile, at Catherine's instigation, Urban had 
resolved to summon the " servants of God M to his aid, to fill 
Rome with men of great repute for sanctity, and at least 
secure that all the spiritual forces within the Church should 
be on his side. " In this horrible tempest that threatens the 
Church with shipwreck/* he wrote, on December 13, to the 

1 Letter 330 (99) ; in the Harleian and Casanaterise MSS. 

a 1^,, III, L 6, 7 8§ 336.337). 

8 Letter 333 (100). Jacopo di Ceva was kept a prisoner until, like Guil- 
l.vume de la Voutte, he passed over to the side of Clement. Cf. Deniflc, op. cit. f 
Tom. Iti, p, 557, and Valois, L p. 125*. 

293 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Prior of Gorgona, Don Bartolommeo Serafini, u we believe 
and hope to be divinely helped by the prayers and tears of 
the just, rather than by the arms of soldiers and by human 
prudence. Therefore, with Peter, who when he was sinking 
in the sea besought aid from the Lord, and straightway merited 
to be delivered by His loving hand, earnestly and with de- 
votion of heart, we summon to our assistance the devout tears 
and assiduous prayers of the just children of the Church, that 
they may humbly and devoutly assail the ears of the Lord, 
and He may the sooner bend to have compassion upon us." 
The monk is to have special prayers and sacrifices offered, 
night and day, in all the congregations and hermitages of men 
and women in Tuscany and elsewhere, and to seek out certain 
representatives of the different religious orders, including 
Giovanni dalle Celle and William Flete, and with them pre- 
sent himself in Rome before the Pope by the second Sunday 
after the Epiphany. 1 A number of others, not named in this 
bull, seem also to have been summoned, including Fratc 
Antonio da Nizza and Fra Paolino da Nola, of Lecceto, and 
three of the hermits of Monte Luco, above Spoleto. 

Catherine herself forwarded the bull to the Prior of Gorgona. 
** Now is our time," she wrote, u in which it will be seen who is 
a lover of the truth. We must arise from slumber and place the 
blood of Christ before our eyes, in order that we may be more 
inspirited for the battle. Our sweet Holy Father, Pope Urban 

VI, true Supreme Pontiff, seems to mean to adopt that remedy 
which is necessary for the reformation of Holy Church ; he wishes 
to have the servants of God by his side, and to guide himself and 
Holy Church by their counsels. For this reason he sends you 
this bull, in which is contained that you have to summon all those 
who are written there. Do it zealously and quickly, and without 
loss of time ; for the Church of God has mcd of no delay. Set 

1 BuO published by Gigli,in notes to Catherine's letter to Don Bartolommeo. 
An earlier brief (of doubtful authenticity), dated September 6, 1378, is in Barth. 
Sencnsis, 0/. r/7., Lib. IV. cap. 5, and Trumby, Storia del Patrkrca 5. Brunone t etc., 

VII. App. I. doc. 38. 

2 94 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



aside every other thing, be it what it may, arid urge on the others 
to be here soon. Do not delay, do not delay, for the love of 
God. Enter this garden to labour here ; Fra Raimondo has 
gone to labour over there, for the Holy Father has sent him to 
the King of France, Pray God for him, that He may make him 
a true sower of the truth ; and that he may lay down his life for 
it, if there be need. The Holy Father bears himself well and 
royally, like a man virile and just and zealous for the honour of 
God, as he is." l She wrote simultaneously to the hermits of 
Spoleto, Frate Andrea da Lucca and his companions ; to Giovanni 
dalle Celle; to William Flete and Frate Antonio ; urging them to 
obey the call of the Pope and leave their cells. " I shall see," she 
wrote to the two of Lecceto, u if we have really conceived love 
for the reformation of Holy Church ; for, if it is so in sooth, you 
will follow the will of God and of His vicar ; you will leave the 
wood, and come to enter the field of battle. But, if you do not 
do it, you will be disregarding the will of God," 2 And to the 
hermits of Spoleto : <c You need not fear delights or great con- 
solations, for you come to endure and to find no pleasure save 
that of the Cross." 8 u I pray you for another thing," she says 
at the end of the letter to Giovanni dalle Celle, * c and urge you, 
in the name of Christ crucified, to go to Florence, and tell those 
who are your friends, and who can do it, that they be pleased to 
help their father and keep the promises they have made to him. 
Let them not show such great ingratitude for the graces they 
have received from God and from his Holiness. You know well 
that ingratitude dries up the fountain of piety, and how many 
graces they have received. And what punishment have they 
received for the offences that they have committed? None from 
him, but only favours. If they do not recognize this, they will 
receive it from the Supreme Judge, which will be incomparably 
more severe than any human chastisement. And, therefore, pray 
them most earnestly to do their duty, and not let themselves 



1 L^tcr 3*3 (54)- 

B Letter 327 {135). 

295 



2 Letter 326 (127). 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

be deceived by the flatteries of that demon incarnate, the 
Antipope." l 

The Prior of Gorgona and most of the others seem, sooner 
or later, to have obeyed the papal summons ; but, to Catherine's 
indignation, William Flete flatly refused to leave his wood, 
declaring that this was a device of the devil to deprive the servants 
of God of their spiritual consolations. It was even whispered 
that Giovanni Tantucci had gone to Rome simply for advance- 
ment. Catherine was too much hurt to write to William himself 
on the matter. ** The youth who is bringing you the present 
letter," she wrote to Frate Antonio, u told me that you would 
come before Easter, but now it seems from the letter that Friar 
William has sent me that neither he nor you are coming. I do 
not intend to answer that letter ; but I am very sorry for his 
simplicity, because little honour of God or edification to his 
neighbour is the result of it. If he does not wish to come for 
humility or for fear of losing his peace, he ought to use that 
virtue of humility, that is, he should meekly and humbly crave 
leave from the vicar of Christ, beseeching his Holiness to be 
pleased to let him stay in the wood for his greater peace ; resign- 
ing himself, nevertheless, to his will, like one truly obedient ; and 
this would be more pleasing to God and profitable to his own 
soul. But it seems to me that he has done entirely the contrary, 
declaring that he who is bound to the divine obedience need not 
obey creatures. I should not care about the other creatures, but 
that he should include the vicar of Christ, this grieves me greatly, 
seeing him so at variance with the truth ; for the divine obedience 
never draws us from obedience to him ; nay, the more perfect 
our obedience to God, the more perfect is this other, and we are 
ever bound to be subject and obedient to his commands, even 
unto death. Even if the injunction he laid upon us should seem 
indiscreet, and deprive us of peace and consolation of mind, we 
should obey ; and, if we did the contrary, I deem it to be a great 



1 Casana tense MS, 292. 
Letter 322 (71). 



This passage is omitted in the printed versions of 
296 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



imperfection and a deceit of the demon. It seems, according to 
what he writes, that two servants of God have had a great 
revelation that Christ on earth, and whoso has advised him to 
send for these servants of God, have been deceived, and that this 
is a human thing and not divine, and has been an inspiration 
from the devil rather than from God, to wish to draw His 
servants from their peace and consolation ; saying that, if you and 
the others came, you would lose your fervour, and thus would 
not be able to help with prayer, nor abide in spirit with the Holy 
Feather. Too lightly is the spirit harnessed, if it is lost by change 
of place ! It seems that God is an accepter of places, and that 
He is to be found only in the wood, and not elsewhere in the 
time of necessity. Then shall we say that, on the one hand, we 
desire that the Church of God be reformed, that the thorns be 
drawn out, and the sweet-smelling flowers of the servants of God 
be planted therein ; while, on the other side, we say that to send 
for them, and draw them from peace and quiet of mind, in order 
that they may come to help this Bark, is a deception of the 
demon ? He might at least speak for himself, and not speak of 
the other servants of God in general, since we need not bring the 
servants of the world into it I Not thus have acted Frate Andrea 
da Lucca, nor Frate Paolino, such great servants of God, although 
old and m weak health, who had been so long a time in their 
peace ; nevertheless, at once, with labour and inconvenience to 
themselves, they set out, and they have come and fulfilled their 
obedience ; and albeit the desire constrains them to return to 
their cells, they would not therefore depart from the yoke ; but 
they say : let what I have said be as not said ; and drown their 
own wills and their own consolations. Whoso comes, comes to 
endure and not to be made a prelate, but for the dignity of many 
labours, with tears, vigils, and continual prayer. So one should 
do. Now let us distress ourselves no more about this matter, 
for we should have too much to say ; but I am amazed at one 
thing, seeing that I know the contrary: that I should see it judged 
that the Master, Giovanni, has come only to exalt himself. With 
atTrny Tieart I feel intolerable grief at this, seeing, under the 

297 







tftfrfV j^-fri 4t»m 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



pretence of virtue, God so manifestly offended, for the intention 
of a creature neither can nor ought to be judged ; even if we 
knew of some fault, which we saw by its result^ we ought not to 
judge the intention, but with great compassion bear it in the 
sight of God ; we do the contrary when deceived by our own 
opinions. May God in His infinite mercy send us in sincerity 
along the way of truth, and give us true and most perfect light, 
that we may never walk in darkness. I pray you and the 
Bachelor, and the other servants of God, to pray the humble 
Lamb that He may make me go by His way, I say no more. 
As for your coming and staying, and Friar William's, may the 
will of God be done. I hardly expected that he would come, 
and also I did not expect him to answer with such disregard of 
holy obedience, nor with such simplicity. Commend me to him 
and to all the others ; I pray you and him to pardon me, if I 
have been the cause of scandalizing you and giving you trouble ; 
I confess that I am a scandal to all the world, being so ignorant 
and full of defects as I am. Remain in the holy and sweet charity 
of God." 1 

Catherine seems soon to have forgiven her English disciple, 
who, for the rest, was working efficaciously for Urban in his 
solitude. 2 Those that came all stayed in the house that had 
apparendy been assigned to Catherine by the Pope in the Rione 
della Colonna (not to be confused with the ** Contrada di Piazza 
Colonna,'* where she afterwards took the house in which her 
chapel is still shown), and lived there as her guests. The number 
of persons who thus lived in her house was at the least twenty- 
four, sixteen men and eight women, and at times it increased to 
between thirty and forty. They lived entirely upon alms, partly 
begged in Rome itself, partly collected by her friends and disciples 



1 Casanatcnsc MS. 292. The printed versions of this st riking letter , 328 
,(130), omit a great part of this passage. 

3 He had a vision, while celebrating Mass, to the effect that Bartolommeo of 
Ban was truly Pope, and wrote to England upon the subject, with the result that 
his testimony was accepted by his countrymen as an argument for their adherence 
to the Roman claimant. CC the Rationes Jngticorum, in Raynaldus, vii* p. 338. 

298 





... . ■ / '»*<**/ 



■ 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

the world to His apostles, He had revealed it to the Abbot 
Joachim, in order that men might be ready for it, now that it 
was at hand. He interprets a prophecy ascribed to the Abbot 
as meaning that after Urban VI— ** Papa Urbano che fa tanti 
miracoli *'— will come a Gregory , who is to be the last Pope, after 
whom will come Antichrist, whom some say will be Pope : 
" Thou art young and wilt probably see all these things, if thou 
livest to the normal age/* l 

Nevertheless, the new year, 1379, opened well for the Urbanist 
cause, England had declared emphatically for the Roman 
claimant ; the King of the Romans was treading in his father's 
steps ; Louis of Hungary and Poland, the chief arbiter of war 
and peace in eastern Europe, gave hopes of armed intervention. 
On January 1, Catherine, who had already forgiven William Flete 
(perhaps in consideration of his letters to his own countrymen), 
wrote to Pietro di Giovanni Ventura and Stefano Maconi : 
u Through the sweet goodness of God, Holy Church and Pope 
Urban VI have in these days received the most satisfactory news 
that they have had for a long time. I send you with this a 
letter addressed to the Bachelor, m which you can see how God 
is beginning to pour out His grace upon His sweet Spouse. And 
so 1 hope in His mercy that He will continue, multiplying His 
gifts day by day, 1 know that His truth cannot lie ; He has 
promised to reform her by much endurance on the part of His 
servants, and by means of their humble and continuous prayers, 
offered up with tears and travail," 2 

In Siena itself, the government and populace alike had un- 
hesitatingly declared from the outset for Urban, who had sent 
Jacomo di Sozzino Tolomei, the Bishop of Narni, as his nuncio 
to the city, "As to the Holy Father/' wrote Cristofano Guidini 
to Neri di Landoccio, l( I do not believe that there is a single man 
in Siena who does not hold and believe that Pope Urban is the 
true pastor of Holy Church, and if any ambassadors of the 



1 Letter t cit. t 27. Cf. Jntmimo Florentine, pp, 389, 390. 

2 Letter 332 (264). 

300 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 



Antipope come here, they will not be heard/* l Stefano was still 
kept at Siena by his family affairs, which, in spite of Catherine's 
exhortations to cut and not wait to untie the knots that bound 
him to the world, he was unable to get off his hands. He kept 
up a constant correspondence with Neri di Landoccio, expressing 
the extreme delight with which he had heard of Urban 's proceed- 
ings, and assuring him of the loyalty of the Sienese. "And, in 
proof of this, I tell thee further that when, a few days ago, it was 
first rumoured that an ambassador of that antidemon of Fondi 
was coming hither, who had already been to Pisa, and it was 
feared that he might be given audience here, many who desired 
the honour of God (among whom I will not exclude myself, 
however lukewarmly I may desire it) appealed to the Palace, 
and also to others outside who could prevent it ; representing to 
them that this demon came to sow heresy and to contaminate 
our faith, adding that it would be greatly to the honour of God 
if he were burned. And Pietro and I in particular went at once 
to my lord of Nami, in order that he might go to the Signoria, 
offering ourselves as his servants to be the first to lay hands 
upon him ; and I promise thee that we found the people so well 
disposed that thou wouldst have been greatly delighted ; and 
especially those of the Palace, who at once gave orders that he 
should not be allowed to enter the gate. Besides this, they 
would have consented to his being stoned by the children ; and 
I am certain that, if he had come, he would have lost his life, in 
one way or in another. I write thee this that thou mayest have 
some little pleasure at the good disposition that there now is in 
this unhappy city of ours, instead of the sorrow that in other 
times thou hast had, at seeing her hold against the obedience she 
owes to Holy Church* Do not forget me, sweet brother mine, 
but pray earnestly to God for me, for certainly I have very great 
need of it ; praying Him especially that He grant me grace to 
know how to free myself from this corruption of the world, so that 
I may ever do His will in the way that is most pleasing to Him/'- 

1 January 14, 1379* Letttre dti \ disctfofi, 11. 
* January 15, 1379, Ibid. 9 12. 
3OI 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



To Catherine it seemed that what Stefano needed was a more 
strenuous effort and more vigorous resolution to free himself, 
"Time is lost in waiting to untie/' she wrote to him, "and thou 
art not sure of having it. It is better to cut decisively with a 
true and holy zeal I would have thee, all manfully, set thyself 
free, and answer Mary who is calling thee with the greatest love, 
and the blood of these glorious martyrs, who with such great fire 
of love gave their blood for love of the blood, and their life for 
the love of life. It all boils, inviting thee and the others to 
come and endure, for the glory and praise of the name of God 
and Holy Church, and to put your virtue to the test For into 
this holy city, of which God showed the dignity by calling it His 
garden, into this garden He has called His servants ; saying now 
is the time for them to come to test the gold of their virtues. 
Now let us not act as though we were deaf ; if our ears be 
stopped up by the cold, let us take the blood which is hot because 
mingled with fire, and let us wash them out, and all deafness will 
be taken away. Hide thyself in the wounds of Christ crucified ; 
fly from before the world, leave the house of thy parents, fly into 
the cavern of the side of Christ crucified, that thou may est come 
to the land of promise. I say this same to Pietro, too. Place 
yourselves up at the table of the Cross, and there, all drunk with 
blood, take the food of souls, enduring pain, insults, mockery, 
and abuse, hunger, thirst, and nakedness, rejoicing with that sweet 
Paul, the Chosen Vessel, In persecution for Christ crucified. If 
thou wilt cut, as I have said, endurance will be thy glory ; other- 
wise, no, but it would be anguish to thee, and thy shadow would 
make thee afraid/' l 

Shortly before this, Stefano had been captured by a band of 
marauders in the Sienese contado, and released as soon as he 
called upon her name, Catherine took this as another sign to 
her disciple to free himself from the bonds that still bound him 
to the world, and give himself entirely to the service of God ; 
then, only, would he be delivered from the enemies of the soul 

1 Letter 329 (262), I quote from the original tn the Bibliotcca Commute 
of Siena, 

302 



FROM SIENA TO ROME 

as he had thus been delivered from those of the body. Never- 
theless, she does not bid him come to her, if his parents oppose 
it. " I do not bid thee come. I should, indeed, have been very 
glad if thou hadst come, and that thou shouldst come now, if 
thou canst without offence ; but, if it offends and distresses thy 
father and mother, no, as long as the offence is not necessary. 
Nay, I would have thee at this time avoid it, whenever thou canst. 
I am certain, if the Divine Goodness sees it to be best, that the 
offence will cease, so that thou canst come with peace. Come if 
thou canst." l 

1 Letter 365 (256). I quote from Barduccio's autograph in the possession of 
the Confraternity of Santa Lucia, the printed text being very corrupt in parts. 
But for what seems to be an explicit reference to the Dialogs at the end, I should 
have assigned this letter to a much earlier date than that generally accepted. 



303 



CHAPTER XIV 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



iVtt 



l< State nel rampo col goufalone della santisfiima crocc : pemate che il ianoue di quest t 
glorfosi martin sempte grida nel coipetto di Did, chiedendo sopra voi l'adiutorio mo, 
Pun sate che quest a terra e il giardino di Cristo beiiedetto, ed e '1 principio della nostra 
fede, E pero dascuno perse medeaimo ci d eh he ess ere inanimate" — St. Catherine, Letter 
347 ("9> 

Notwithstanding their having taken part in the conclave 
of Fondij the three Italian cardinals at Tagliacozzo had not yet 
definitely committed themselves to either claimant to the papacy. 
Urban and Clement alike recognized them as members of the 
Sacred College and sought their alliance, and they themselves, 
while appealing to a General Council of the Church to decide 
the question, continued to write to both as lawful Sovereign 
Pontiff. In the latter part of January, 1379, they appear finally 
to have broken off negotiations with Urban, while still abstaining 
from formally and openly making common cause with Clement. 1 
To them, from Rome, Catherine now sent one of the most fiery 
and eloquent of her letters : " with desire of seeing you return 
to true and most perfect Tight, and issue from the great darkness 
and blindness into which you have fallen.'* As is her wont, 
she begins by enunciating a universal doctrine of love and light, 
the light of truth and the love of God, which are obscured by 
love of self and of transitory things. Life, at its best, is but a 
flower that the Supreme Judge will pluck, when it pleases Him, 
with the hand of death. Fearful at that hour will be the 
reckoning exacted by God from those He has set in the highest 
places and who have failed in their duty. Through self-love, 
tc the poison of self-love that has poisoned the world," they 

1 They were still writing to Urban as Pope on January 17 ; but, in 
private conversation, they spoke of him as u ille Romanus," and his rival as 
"Dominus Clemens." Cf. Gayet, II. pp. 279-281, and doc, 30; Raynaldus, 



vn. p, 370, 



3°4 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

have turned their backs upon the truth that they themselves 
announced when they elected Urban. " O how mad you are, 
to have given the truth to us and preferred to taste the He 
for yourselves ! M In impassioned words, addressing them as 
" fools, worthy of a thousand deaths," she tells over again the 
whole story of the two elections, brushing away their supposed 
excuse that they did not actually vote for Clement. Had they 
not consented, they would not have been there, even if their 
lives had been the price of their refusal ; for they could, at 
least, have protested, and did not do so. " On whatever side 
I turn, I find in you nothing save lies." Then, changing her 
tone, she implores them to return to the fold, and, at last, 
appeals to their national sentiment as Italians. U I have had 
the greatest sorrow for you three, and more wonder at your 
sin than at that of all the others who have committed it. For, 
if all had departed from their father, you ought to have been 
those sons who strengthened him, by manifesting the truth. 
Even if your father had given you nothing but reproaches, 
you ought not to play the part of Judas by denying his Holiness 
in every way. 1 Speaking merely naturally and in human fashion 
(for, according to virtue, we should all be equal), C hrist on 
earth being an Italian and you Italians, I see no reason why 
patriotic passion could not move you, as it does the ultramon- 
tanes — save only love of self. Cast it henceforth to the ground, 
and do not await time (for time does not wait for you), but 
trample this affection under foot, with hate of vice and love of 
virtue. Return, return, and do not await the rod of justice; 
for we cannot escape from the hands of God. We are in His 
hands, either for justice or for mercy ; better is it for us to 
acknowledge our faults, and to abide in the hands of mercy, 
than to remain in sin and in the hands of justice ; for our 
faults will not pass unpunished, and especially those that are 
committed against Holy Church. But I will pledge myself to 
bear you in the sight of God, with tears and continual prayers, 

1 Net/ davevate perb tstere Giuda. So the Harleian MS. The printed versions 
read : non dovevate perb essere guida. 

20 305 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



and to bear the penance together with you ; if only you wil 
return to the father, who, like a true father, is awaiting you 
with the opened wings of mercy. Alas, alas ! do not fly or 
shun it ; but receive it humbly, and do not believe the evil 
counsellors who have given you your death. Alas ! sweet brothers 
(sweet brothers and fathers will you be to me, in as far as you 
abide in truth), resist no more the tears and sweat that the 
servants of God are shedding for you ; for you could wash in 
them from head to foot. If you despised them, and the thirsting, 
sweet, and dolorous desires that are being offered up for you 
by them, you would receive a far severer condemnation. Fear 
God and His true judgment, I hope in His infinite goodness 
that He will fulfil in you the desire of His servants/' l 

Nevertheless, the three cardinals at Tagliacozzo continued to 
appeal to a Council as the only way of ending the Schism, until 
August, when Jaco po Orsini died. It was rumoured in Italy 
, that, on his deathbed, he had professed his conviction that Urban 
alone was lawful Pope. This, however, was not the case. In 
his dying confession, signed and dated August 13, 1379, he 
declares that he acknowledges as Pope whoever shall be approved 
by the Church and the Council, and expresses his sorrow if, by 
written word or by work, he shall have ever done or said any- 
thing against him who shall thus be declared lawful Pope. 2 It 
was probably his hesitation that had hitherto prevented the 
Cardinals of Florence and Milan from declaring for Clement ; 

1 Letter 310 (31), corrected by the Harleian MS. 

a Jnhivio Vaticano^ LIV. 40, printed in Raynaldus, viL pp. 370, 371. On the 
other handy Francesco Casini asserts that Orsini, shortly before his death, 
admitted to him that he was right in adoring Urban as the true Pope {Archivio 
cit. f LIV. 17, L 76). The French King urged the two survivors to come 
to France, or at least some part of Piedmont near Dauphini, to confer with 
him, while Clement assured them that their adherence to him would do more 
to restore peace to the Church than would the assembling of a Council. 
Valois, L pp, 321-323. Both ultimately joined the Clementines. The dying 
profession of the Cardinal of Milan, that the election of Urban was under 
compulsion, and that Clement was lawful Pope, is dated September 12, I 381, 
in the Archivh Fmcano > LIV. 19, f. 141. 

306 




ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



and it is curious to notice that, while Pedro de Luna, who had 
been the chief cause of Urban's election and had deserted him 
with the utmost reluctance, ultimately became the most strenuous 
and obstinate leader of the opposite faction, Jacopo Orsini, who 
had opposed the election from the outset, was the only member 
of the Sacred College who never entirely went over to the side 
of his enemies. 

In the meanwhile, both Urban and Clement had appealed 
to the arms of mercenary soldiers, to make good their claims to 
be the vicar of the Prince of Peace, Castello Sant' Angelo still 
held out against the Roman People, and its defenders were 
reduced to the last extremities, those who fell into the hands 
of the besiegers being cruelly maimed and mutilated, 1 Clement 
had collected an army of Bretons and Gascons, including those 
whom he had urged to the slaughter of Cesena, and put them 
under the command of his nephew, Louis de Montjoie, with 
orders, in February, to march upon Rome ; while Urban took 
into his pay the Compagnia di San Giorgio, a company of Italian 
mercenaries that had been raised by Alberigo da Barbiano, Count 
of Cunio in Ro magna, a condottiere who bade fair to eclipse 
the fame of the foreign captains who had been the curse of 
Italy for the last half-century. Early in March, Clement, who 
was suffering from fever, moved from Fondi to Sperlonga, near 
Gaeta ; from which, on April 17, 1379, he issued his famous 
bull to Louis of Anjou, conferring the kingdom of Adria upon 
him, which was to be a vassal kingdom of the Holy See, 
including Ferrara, Bologna, Ravenna, all Romagna, the Marches 
of Ancona, Perugia, Todi, Spoleto — the greater bulk, in fact, of 
the Papal States — with the provision that disputes between the 
new kingdom and that of Naples were to be decided by the 
Pope's arbitration, and that neither sovereign could succeed 
the other. 

Montjoie's army amounted to some six hundred lances — 
which, allowing three men to a lance, would mean about eighteen 
hundred soldiers. He set his headquarters at Marino, the 
1 Cf. Valois.L p. 169 n. 
3°7 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



stronghold of Giordano Orsini, from which he ravaged the 
country, without making any serious attempt to relieve the 
defenders of Sant' Angela, who were compelled to accept an 
offer of mediation from Giovanni Cenci,and capitulated on April 
27. With the solemn benediction of Urban, Alberigo da 
Barbiano marched out of Rome. Early on the morning of April 
30, his company — which amounted to two hundred and forty 
lances, with a subsidiary force of Roman infantry — advanced from 
the neighbourhood of Tivoli towards Marino. Confident in his 
superior numbers, Montjoic moved to meet them, broke their 
first division under Galeazzo Pepoli, and drove them back upon 
the infantry — only to be in his turn crushed by the onslaught of 
Alberigo himself, who, pressing forward at the head of his main 
body, threw the three lines of the enemy into confusion and 
gained a complete victory. The Clementines lost more than a 
third of their army in killed and prisoners, the latter including 
Montjoie himself, Bernardon de la Salle, and Silvestre Budes. 1 
The battle of Marino marks an epoch in the history of Italian 
wars ; for the first time, a purely Italian army had gained a con- 
clusive victory over the foreign mercenaries, and the patriotic 
boast of Pctrarca in his Italia mia had been justified : Chi I anttquo 
valore m V itatici cor non i ancor mono. 

Castello Sant' Angelo had surrendered to the Roman People, 
and not to the Pope, whose demand that it should be given into 
his hands, to be guarded by him, was rejected by the Romans, who 
were keenly alive to the danger of his using it to command the 
city and curtail their liberties. After two days* fruitless negotia- 
tion, Urban was compelled to give way ; and on the morning of 
April 30, the morning of the battle of Marino, the Romans 
entered Sant' Angelo with their banners displayed, and began to 

1 See Luigi Fumi, Notizie official mlla battagfta di Marino delF anno 1379, and 
U« nuovo dvvisG della battalia di Marino (Studi e document! di Storia c Diritto, 
anno VII. Rome, 1886) ; Canestrini, op. cif. t p. Ixxi. ; Andrea Gattaro, in Rer. It, 
Script., xviL coll. 277, 278, The battle has been somewhat exaggerated by modem 
historians, on Gattaro's track, 

308 




ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



raze it to the ground, 1 An expression in one of Catherine's 
letters, referring to the wonderful things that God had wrought 
four weeks before, per mezzo di vile ereaiura y has been taken as 
meaning that she had been instrumental in obtaining the capitula- 
tion of the fortress, 2 Of this, however, we know nothing. 
Swallowing his discomfiture with the best grace he could, Urban 
walked barefoot in procession from Santa Maria in Trastevere 
to St. Peter's, to offer solemn thanks to God for the double 
victory. 

To the Bandaresi and their colleagues s u the maintainers of 
the Republic of Rome/* whom she consistently treats as the 
temporal rulers of the Eternal City, Catherine addressed a letter 
on May 6, exhorting them to be grateful for the great benefits 
they had received from God, Let them show their gratitude by 
justice to their neighbours, by purity of life, by abstaining from 
rash judgment, by fidelity to the Church and the vicar of Christ. 
Nor is the letter without a touch of worldly wisdom : M Also I 
would have you grateful to this Company, who have been the 
instruments of Christ, helping them in all that is needed, especially 
with regard to these poor wounded. Bear yourselves charitably 
and peacefully with them, in order that you may preserve them 
to your aid, and not let them have any cause for turning against 
you- Thus it is meet you do, sweetest brothers, both because it is 
your duty and because it is urgently necessary." Cl It seems to 
me/' she adds, m that a little ingratitude is being used towards 
Giovanni Cenci, who has laboured with such great zeal and fidelity, 
with an upright heart, only to please God and for our utility (and 
this I know to be the truth), abandoning everything else to deliver 
you from the scourge that Castello Sant* Angelo had become to you, 
and acting in the matter with so much prudence ; not only do they 

1 Letter of April 30, 1579, from Pictro Angeli da Monte fiasco nc, one of 
the papal secretaries, to the Commune of Montefiasconc. Fumi, 0/. af., doc. 2. 
Cf. Bcnvenuto da Imola, Omentum, II. p. 8. 

2 Letter 351 (20), which in the Harlcian MS. is dated May 30, I 379, 
The MS., however, reads : per mezzo di vifi creature. 

3°9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



now show hirn no sign of gratitude, not so much as thanking 
him, but the vice of envy and ingratitude is casting the poison of 
slander and much murmuring against him, I should not like 
him to be treated thus, nor any one else who served you ; for it 
would be an offence to God and loss to yourselves. All the 
commonwealth needs wise, mature, and discreet men, and of a 
good conscience. Let it no more be so, for the love of Christ 
crucified. Adopt what remedy seems meet to your lordships, in 
order that the simplicity of the churlish may not interfere with 
your welfare. I say this for your own good, and not for any parti- 
ality of mine ; for you know that I am a stranger, speaking to 
you for your own good estate, because I value you all, together with 
him, as much as my own soul. I know that, like wise and discreet 
men, you will consider the affection and the purity of heart with 
which I write to you, and so you will pardon my presumption in 
venturing to write. Be grateful, be grateful to God/ 1 1 

She wrote at the same time to Count Alberigo and his 

caporali^ who had not returned to Rome, but were still in the 

field, pressing on the campaign against the remnants of the 

Clementines in the Campagna, where Marino was being besieged 

by the Roman People. Perhaps she already knew that a portion 

of the Compagnia di San Giorgio was on the point of accepting 

money from Clement, when she wrote : M with desire of seeing 

you, you and all the rest of your company, faithful to Holy 

Mother Church and to the Holiness of Pope Urban VI, true 

Sovereign Pontiff, all combat royally and faithfully for the truth, 

that you may receive the fruit of your labours M ; but, at least, 

the letter is nothing but a prose poem in honour of ideal Christian 

chivalry. Not otherwise might Dante have addressed his chosen 

warriors of God in the glowing red sphere of Mars. "O brother 

"and dearest sons, you are knights who have entered the field to give 

your lives for love of life, and to give your blood for love of the 

blood of Christ crucified. Now is the time of the new martyrs. 

You are the first who have given blood. How great is the fruit 

that you will receive for it ? It is life eternal, which is an 

1 Letter 349 (196), corrected by the Harleian MS. 

310 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

infinite fruit. In this conflict you cannot but gain, whether you 
live or die. If you die, you gain life eternal, and are set in a 
place safe and not subject to change ; and if you survive, you 
have made a sacrifice of yourselves voluntarily to God, and you 
will be able to keep what you possess with a good conscience. 1 ' 
That last clause, alas, makes us realize that these new knights of 
Christ were, after all, mere soldiers of fortune ; but Catherine 
goes on to exhort them always to keep the blood of the Lamb 
before their eyes, to fight for the truth that ** the members of the 
devil M are denying, and enter upon the conflict with the highest 
intention alone, purifying their consciences by holy confession. 
Let the captain -general himself set the example. The holy soil 
of Rome, upon which they are fighting, should animate them to 
act manfully. " Keep in the field with the standard of the most 
holy Cross ; think that the blood of these glorious martyrs is 
ever crying out in the sight of God, invoking His aid upon you. 
Think that this city is the garden of the blessed Christ and the 
very beginning of our faith, and, therefore, every one of his own 
accord should be filled with valour here. Be grateful, you and 
the others, be grateful for the benefit you have received, to God 
and to that glorious knight St. George, whose name you keep ; 
may he defend you and be your guard, even unto death. Forgive 
me, if I have wearied you too much with words. Love of 
Holy Church and your salvation must excuse me, and my 
conscience which has been constrained by the sweet will of God. 
We will do like Moses ; for the people fought, and Moses 
prayed ; and whilst he prayed, the people conquered. So shall 
we do, if only our prayer be pleasing and acceptable to God.*' 1 
On this same day, May 6, Catherine wrote to the King of 
France and to the Queen of Naples, evidently thinking that the 
latter would have been moved by the victory of the Urbanists so 
near her own territories. She beseeches Giovanna to have pity 
upon her own soul, and again expresses her longing to come to 

1 Letter 347 (219). The authenticity of this letter has been occasionally 
called in question, but no student of the manuscripts can entertain the slightest 
doubt on the subject, 

3" 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Naples, to plead with her face to face. She reminds her, c< my 
mother and my daughter, 1 ' of her old promise to aid the Crusade, 
and warns her that Urban, if she perseveres in opposing htm, 
will pronounce sentence of deprivation against her as a heretic. 1 
To Charles she writes at some length, with her usual conviction 
that it is self-love alone that is taking away from man the divine 
light and preventing him from discerning where the truth lies. 
She gives her usual statement of the Roman case, adding that he 
would find the u servants of God" unanimous for Urban, and 
that God certainly would not suffer His servants to walk in dark- 
ness. She implores the King to appeal to the theologians of 
the University of Paris, "for you have there the fountain of 
science, which I fear you will lose, if you continue this conduct," 
and not to be led away by his affection for his own country. 2 
Nevertheless, in this same month, Charles practically ordered the 
University to declare for Clement, and obtained what professed 
to be an unanimous decision of all the faculties and all the nations 
composing it. In reality, the faculty of theology was divided, 
a large portion of the doctors, in spite of persecution, continuing 
in their adherence to Urban. 3 

Alarmed at the result of the battle of Marino, Clement 
decided to seek the protection of the Queen of Naples. On 
May 9, with Cardinal Lagier, Cardinal Flandrin, and his new 
Cardinal of Cosenza,,1ie embarked at Gaeta, where the people 
received him with scarcely veiled hostility, and, with a fleet of six 
galleys and one galliot, he arrived at Naples on the following day. 
In spite of Giovanna and her court, the populace of Naples and 
not a few of the nobles believed in Urban ; Bernard Rodhez, the 

1 Letter 348 (317). 

2 Letter 350 (187). An unmistakable "servant of God," Friar Peter of 
Aragon, had just sent Charles what he claimed to be a direct revelation from 
the Lord on behalf of Urban, but which, to a large extent, contradicted Catherine's 
contention that the tumult of the people had not influenced his election. In 
Du Boulav, IV. p. 581, and Raynaldus, vii. p. 398* For an Urbanist proposal, 
in 1 381, to transfer the University of Paris to Prague, see Denifle, <?/. cit, Tom, 
ill, doc. 1642. 

• Cf. Valois, L pp. 137-140. 

312 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



Provencal archbishop, having joined Clement at Fondi, Urban 
had appointed a Neapolitan, Lodovico Bozzuto, to replace him ; 
but the latter had not dared to take possession of his see, for fear of 
the Queen. Giovanna gave Clement a magnificent reception, and 
all her courtiers flocked to pay him reverence. But, while she was 
entertaining him in the Castello dell' Ovo, the populace began to 
gather together, murmuring against her for having received this 
11 Carnival Pope," and the partisans of the Urbanist archbishop 
fanned the flames, A carpenter was denouncing the Queen in 
one of the piazze, when a gentleman of the city, Messer Andrea 
Ravignano, chanced to pass ; " How now, fellow ? Darest thou 
speak against thy liege lady ? n A volley of Neapolitan abuse 
was the answer* to which Messer Andrea retaliated by a blow 
which destroyed the sight of one of the carpenter's eyes, At once 
the whole Neapolitan populace rose in fury, shouting: "Viva Papa 
Urbano," " Muoia Papa Clemente,' 1 M Muoia l'Anticristo I " 
While one band rushed to sack the Archbishop's palace and the 
houses of the Clementine prelates, the rest swept down to the 
shore towards the Castello dell* Ovo, shouting death to the Queen 
herself, if she defended her Antipope. The Urbanist archbishop 
was put in possession of the see, and the populace illuminated the 
whole city at nightfall. Pope and Queen were alike terrified. 
On May 13, Clement, with his three cardinals, his six galleys and 
one galliot, left Naples, and returned to Sperlonga ; while 
Giovanna, on May 18, the vigil of the Ascension, published a 
decree declaring that she held Urban as lawful Pope, and that he 
was to be obeyed as such throughout her kingdom. She de- 
spatched the Count of Nola, Messer Ugo da San Severino, the 
Prior of the Certosa, and others to Rome as her ambassadors, to 
make complete submission to the Holy See. 1 Catherine wrote 
exultantly to three Neapolitan ladies, at the news of the shining 
out of the light upon their city : u The heart of Pharaoh is broken, 
that of the Queen, I mean, who has shown so much obstinacy up 

1 Cronkon Skulum (ed. J. de Blasiis), pp. 35-37 ; Dlumatt dttti M Duca dx 
Mmttkone > pp. 15, 16 ; Anonimo Fiortntino f p* 396. Cf Fumi, op, cit t doci. 4 
and 5. 

3*3 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

to now, by departing from her head, Christ on earth, and adhering 
to Antichrist, member of the demon ; she has persecuted the 
truth and exalted the lie. Thanks, thanks be to our Saviour, 
who has illumined her heart, whether by force or by love, and 
has shown His wonderful works in her,*' l 

On May 22, Clement embarked for Provence, leaving his 
Cardinal Jacopo d'ltri, the former Patriarch of Constantinople, as 
his legate in Italy. After much trouble on the way, he finally, 
on June 20, reached the papal palace of Avignon* 

At Whitsuntide, Urban took up his residence in the Vatican. 
*' Most holy Father," wrote Catherine, " may the Holy Spirit 
overshadow your soul and heart and affection with the fire of 
divine charity, and infuse a supernatural light into your under- 
standing, in such wise that in your light we little sheep may see 
light, and that no deception that the devil might wish to practise 
upon you with his malice may be hidden from your Holiness, I 
desire, most holy Father, to see fulfilled in you all the other things 
that the sweet will of God demands of you, of which I know 
that you have very great desire. I hope that this sweet fire of the 
Holy Spirit will work in your heart and soul, as it did in those 
holy disciples, when it gave them strength and power against 
the visible demons and against the invisible. In its virtue they 
beat down the tyrants of the world, and by endurance they spread 
the faith. It gave them light and wisdom to know the truth 
and the doctrine that Truth itself had left, whereby the affection, 
which follows the understanding, robed them with the fire of His 
charity, so that they lost all servile fear and human pleasure, and 
only attended to the honour of God, and to draw souls from 
the hands of the demons ; and they were fain to offer to every 
creature the truth with which they found themselves illumined. 
But it was only after much vigil, humble and continual prayer, 
and the great mental labour in which they spent those ten days, 
that they were filled with this strength of the Holy Spirit ; th 

1 Letter 353 (337). In Letter 362 (318), Catherine states that Giovanr 
herself wrote to her, confessing that Urban was true Pope and declaring her 
intention of being obedient to him. 

314 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

labour and holy exercise came first. O most holy Father, it 
seems that they are teaching us and are exhorting your Holiness 
to-day, and that they are showing us in what way we can receive 
the Holy Spirit. What is this way ? That we should keep in 
the house of knowledge of ourselves, In which knowledge the 
soul is always humble, neither running to excess in gladness nor 
yielding to impatience in adversity*" tc I rejoice that this sweet 
Mother Mary and sweet Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, have 
restored you to your own place. Now the eternal Truth wishes 
you to make in your garden a garden of the servants of God, 
and to nourish them therein with temporal substance, as they will 
you with spiritual ; so that they will have nought else to do, save 
cry in the sight of God for the good estate of Holy Church and 
for your Holiness. These will be the soldiers who will give you 
perfect victory," 1 At the beginning of June, Marino surrendered 
to the Romans ; Rocca di Papa and other casielli followed ; 
Giordano Orslni submitted to the Pope. On June 12, Urban 
issued a triumphant brief to all the Catholic world, u giving thanks 
to the Most High with ineffable joy of mind." "He who 
knoweth all things is our witness that, if we thought that we had 
not entered the sheepfold by the door, we should not have dared 
to sit in the chair of Peter for an hour." Convinced that God 
by the Holy Spirit has chosen his weakness to sustain the burden 
of the universal Church, and that He will never desert her, he is 
prepared to encounter all dangers and persecutions. Already the 
storms are abating ; the mercenaries have been defeated ; Sant 1 
Angelo, non sine miracuh % has surrendered ; his beloved Neapo- 
litan children have driven the Antipope from Naples ; Giovanna 
has abjured her errors, has acknowledged him as true vicar of 
Christ and successor of the bearer of the keys, and from day to 
day he is expecting her ambassadors. 2 

These ambassadors never came. Giovanna's conversion had 
only lasted a few weeks. Her envoys were intercepted by a 

1 Letter 551 (20), which the Harleian MS. dates May 30 (Whit Monday), 

1379* 

Kaynaldus, vii. pp. 386, 387. 

3'5 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Clementine galley (possibly at her own instigation), and, when 
released, she recalled them to Naples, and began vigorously to 
persecute the Urbanists, especially the Archbishop Bozzuto, whom 
she regarded as responsible for the tumult. Unable to get him 
personally into her hands, she destroyed his house and wasted his 
possessions in the country. 1 Apparently, her conversion, induced 
by a momentary fit of terror, was forgotten as soon as she heard 
that her husband Otho was at hand, with fresh troops for her 
support. A few days later, her niece Margherita, whom she 
had treated as a most beloved daughter, left Naples, to join her 
husband, Charles of Durazzo, to whom Urban had already offered 
the crown in the event of Giovanna proving obstinate. 

Urban had decided to make a fresh attempt to win the King 
of France from his Clementine faith, and again chose Fra 
Raimondo as his ambassador. This time, he wished the friar to 
attempt the journey by way of Barcelona, for which purpose, on 
May 9, he had addressed a brief to the King of Aragon, commend- 
ing Raimondo to him, in the hope that a Spanish safe-conduct 
might at length enable him to enter France in safety. Raimondo's 
instructions are still preserved in the Archives of the Vatican. 
He is to tell over again the official Roman version of Urban's 
election, enthronement, and coronation, to lay stress upon the way 
the cardinals obtained (and used) spiritual and temporal favours 
from him, announced his election, and treated him for three 
months as Pope. He is to call the King's attention to the 
voluntary coming of the Cardinal of Amiens to Rome, the 
acceptance of the Bishopric of Ostia by the Cardinal of 
Glandeves, the dying declaration of the Cardinal of St. Peter's, 
the adherence of the greater part of the Universities. Also, 
" the Lord Charles, the last Roman Emperor of blessed memory, 
fully Informed of the truth, held him for true Pope as long as 
he lived M ; the King of the Romans and Bohemia, the Kings 
of Hungary, Aragon, Castile, England, Portugal, Cyprus, and 
Navarre (Urban apparently interpreting the neutrality of several 
of these powers in his own favour), and many other princes in 
1 Valois, I, p. 177*. ; Diuma/i dt. f p. 16. 
316 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

Italy and elsewhere, hold him as true Pope canonical! y elected, and 
he is obeyed as true vicar of Christ and legitimate successor 
of St. Peter throughout their dominions. Following in the foot- 
steps of St, Peter, he has fixed his residence in Rome ; but, 
although an Italian by birth, he always was, and still is, a French- 
man in will, and is prepared to satisfy the King in all his just 
and reasonable demands, Already his cause has begun to triumph, 
as shown by the unanimous decision of the King of the Romans 
and the electors of the Empire in his favour, and the surrender 
of Castello Sant* Angelo. The sudden death of the Cardinal 
Gilles Ay cell n de Montaigu, who had opposed him in Avignon, 
and the incurable illness that has overtaken H the former Cardinal 
of Geneva, now An ti pope," upon whose face a mark of infamy 
appeared as soon as he deserted him, are to be used as serious 
arguments on his behalf, Let the King note well how every where, 
even in France, women and children and almost all the lower 
orders, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit alone, acclaim Urban 
as true Pope, even as it is written by the Prophet : Out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise. In so 
arduous a business, as touching Catholic Faith, let the King listen 
and give credit to the wise, and not be deceived by flatterers and 
false counsellors, which would be contrary to his honour and the 
salvation of his soul, and bring disgrace upon his royal blood 
and lineage, 1 Once more Raimondo failed. In spite of Urban's 
protests, Pedro de Luna, who was now as vigorous in the Clemen- 
tine cause as he had been reluctant to adhere to it, had been 
honourably received by the King of Aragon at the beginning of 
the year as legate of Clement, and had secured the imprisonment 
of Urban's former ambassadors, Perfetto Malatesta, Abbot of 

i I quote direct from the Archivto Vatican^ LIV .33, ff. 132-135. These 
instructions, which are headed : Zequuntttr ta fue Domino Regi Francie sunt exponenda 
per . . . pro parte do mini nostri domini Urbani pape sexti : were first identified by 
Valois, I, pp. 3 13-3 150, For the sudden death of Cardinal Aycclin, which the 
Urbanists regarded as a divine judgment, cf. St. Antoninus, III. p. 390. The 
triviality of the personalities against Clement is quite matched by the arguments 
used against Urban by Jean le Fevrc and other French ambassadors to the Count 
of Flanders. 

317 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

Sassofcrrato, and Fra Menendo, who had been nominated 
Urbanist Bishop of Cordova. 1 Raimondo had been his personal 
fHend) but, nevertheless, through the Cardinal's influence, the 
entry into France was now as closed to him on the Spanish side 
as it had been before from Provence. 

Raimondo remained at Genoa, preaching an Urbanist crusade, 
and acting as provincial of the province of Lombardy. He 
wrote to Catherine, pleading with her not to judge him by her 
own standard, and imploring her not to love him less because he 
had failed her again. The Saint answers as though she herself had 
fallen short lit love and faith, and been an instrument to spoil God's 
work by lack of confidence in Him, As to the special love and 
special faith that binds us to a most dear friend, we must never 
believe or imagine that such a friend wills aught save our good ; 
and nothing whatever, " neither word of creatures, nor illusion 
of the devil j nor change of place,*' must diminish this pure trust 
which comes from love. Therefore, Raimondo's fears, "lest the 
affection and charity 1 bear you be diminished in me," come 
from his own imperfection in love and faith ; but she does not 
conceat her bitter disappointment that he has found means of 
casting to earth the burden laid upon him: "If you had been 
faithful, you would not have had all this hesitation, nor yielded 
to doubts about God and about me, wretched woman ; but, like 
a faithful son, ready for obedience, you would have gone, and 
done what had been possible. And if you had not been able to 
go upright, you would have gone crawling ; if you could not go 
as a friar, you would have gone as a pilgrim ; if you had no 
money, you would have gone on alms. This faithful obedience 
would have wrought more in the sight of God, and in the hearts 
of men, than all human prudence would do. My sins have 
prevented me from seeing this in you, but I am quite certain 
that, in spite of natural shrinking, you, nevertheless, had and 
have a good, holy intention, and the desire better to fulfil 
the will of God and that of Christ on earth, Pope Urban VI/* 
" I wish by all means that you had gone ; nevertheless, I 
1 Cf. SorbelJi* op. at t3 pp. 1 8, 1 9, 

318 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



abide in peace, because I am certain that nothing happens 
without mystery/* 

11 1 tell you, sweetest father, that, whether we will or no, the 
pres ent time invites us to die. Then remain no longer alive"** 
end all pains in pain, and increase the delight of holy desire in pain, 
so that our life may only pass with crucified desire, and we may 
voluntarily give our bodies to the beasts to devour, that is, 
voluntarily, for love of the truth, cast ourselves into the tongues 
and hands of men like unto beasts, even as have done the others 
who, like dead men, have laboured in this sweet garden, and 
watered it with their blood, but first with tears and sweat. But 
I (unhappy is my life !}, because I have not put this water to it, 
have refused to shed my blood therein. I will no more thus ; 
but let our life be renewed, and the fire of desire increase. You 
ask me to pray the Divine Goodness that He may give you some 
of the fire of Vincent, of Lawrence, of sweet Paul, and of that 
loving John ; then, you say, you will do great deeds. Surely, 
you speak the truth, for, without this fire, you would do nothing, 
neither little thing nor great ; nor should I rejoice in you. You 
commend our order to me, and I commend it to you, for, 
perceiving how things stand, my heart is bursting in my body 
thereat. Our province in general still shows itself obedient to 
Pope Urban and to the vicar of the order, which vicar, I tell you, 
bears himself right well for the truth ; in most prudent fashion, 
according to the present state of things, does he bear himself 
in the order and against those who wickedly contradict the truth. 
And if any one said the contrary, according to what little 1 know 
about it, no truth is in his mouth. The most holy Father has 
given him commands and full authority to absolve all those 
provincials who are rebels against his truth. It is no time to 
sleep, but with great solicitude to pray our sweet Spaniard l to 
look down upon his order, which order used ever to work for 
the exaltation of the faith, and now has become its contaniinator. 
I am sorrowful thereat, even unto death, but can do no more, 
save offer up my life in tears and in very great affliction. As to 

1 St. Dominic. 

3*9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

what you write me, that Antichrist and his members are seeking 
diligently to have you in their hands, do not fear ; for God is 
strong enough to take light and power from them, so that they 
may not accomplish their desires. And you should also think 
that you are not worthy of so great a good, and, therefore, need 
not be afraid. Have confidence ; for sweet Mary and the Truth 
will be always with you* I, a vile slave, who am set on the field 
where blood has been shed for love of the blood (and you have 
left me here, and are gone away in God's name), will never cease 
working for you. I beseech you to act so that you give me no 
matter for tears, nor for being ashamed in the sight of God. As 
you are a man in promising to do and to bear for the honour of 
God, do not be now a woman when we come to the point ; for 
I should appeal from you to Christ crucified and to Mary. 
Beware lest He deal with you as He did with the Abbot of Sant 1 
Antimo, who, for fear and under colour of not tempting God, 
left Siena and came to Rome, thinking to have escaped prison 
and to be safe ; and he was put in prison, with the penalty that 
you know. Thus are pusillanimous hearts served. Then be 
utterly manly, so that death may come to you. Know that I 
should not be here now, if it had been possible to go safely ; but 
it was impossible, by sea or by land ; for it was decided that I 
should go to Naples. Pray, and bid others pray to God and 
Mary, that He may make us do what is His honour. Fra 
Bartolommeo, the Master, Fra Matteo, and the others are ready 
to do whatever needs, for the honour of God and the utility of 
Holy Church, and to do violence to their own weakness. They 
and all the others commend themselves to you ; the Nonna 
blesses you ; and I ask your blessing, and beseech you to pardon 
me, if I have said anything contrary to the honour of God and 
the reverence I owe you. Let my love excuse me/' l 

The reference to the imprisonment of Fra Giovanni di Gano 
shows that yet another of Catherine's disciples had disappointed 

1 Letter 344 (ioi), with unpublished passages from the Casanatcnse MS. 
292. A reference to the state of Naples, and the papal mission to the King of 
Hungary, shows this letter was not written before the latter part of June, 1379. 

320 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



her expectations. Nothing is known of the matter, but it is 
likely that he had shrunk from doing one of Urban's missions to 
Siena. Relations had again grown strained between Catherine's 
native city and the Holy See, in consequence of the refusal of the 
Sienese to assist Urban with men and money, to which they were 
pledged by the terms of the peace between the league and the 
Church, as also by the conditions of the restitution of Talamone. 
Francesco Casini, who was now Urban's physician as he had been 
Gregory's, had vainly attempted to smooth things over in the 
papal court, u Do not think," he wrote to the Defenders, 
" that I can interpose on behalf of the Commune or of the 
citizens, while you behave thus ; rather, while you act in this 
way j would I wish the Pope to think I was a Scotsman/* 1 We 
have two letters of Catherine herself to them on the subject, 
urging them to assist the Pope as they had promised, especially 
now that he was not demanding their aid to recover the tempor- 
alities of the Church, but simply for the defence of the faith, 
reminding them that they had found no difficulty in giving similar 
support to the Florentines against the Holy See, and assuring 
them that Urban loved them cordially as sons, 2 She wrote at 
the same time to the prior and brethren of the Disciplinati of the 
Madonna, urging them to put all the moral pressure they could 
upon the Signoria, and to Stefano Maconi, bidding him be fervent 
and not tepid in this work : c * If you will be what you ought 
to be, you will set all Italy aflame, not merely your own city/' 3 
But, with the mercenaries of Hawkwood and Lucio di Lando 
demanding money, and scattered bands of Bretons threatening 
the contado, the Sienese were probably really unable to fulfil 
their pledges to Urban *s satisfaction ; and, though Stefano urged 
the Signoria to pawn the goods of the Commune, and send a 
force to Rome, however small, as proof of their good will, 
nothing was done. ** In all spiritual things, 1 ' he wrote to Neri 

1 Letter of June 5, 1379. Fumi, 0/. «A f doc. 5. 
* Letters 311 {203) and 367 (204). 

8 Letters 321 (144) and 368 (26 1}* The full text of the letter to the 
Disdpfinati is in the Casanatensc MS, 29*. 
21 321 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

di Landoccio, a he would be obeyed as true pastor ; but* in 
temporal matters, they plead their great poverty and the misery 
into which they are come. I am grieved to the heart at seeing 
that the Holy Father has not had full satisfaction from this city ; 
and I promise you that I have so much spoken about it, and 
especially while Maestro Francesco was here, that I was several 
times told that I talked more than befitted me on the subject. 
But I should reck little of this, if only I saw done what is the 
honour of God/' l 

There were similar difficulties elsewhere. The Florentines 
fully acknowledged Urban's election, and turned a deaf ear to the 
appeals of Louis oFAnjou against him ; but they were exceedingly 
slow in carrying out their part of the treaty, and already behind 
hand with the payment of the indemnity. It is probable that, 
in the continual state of alarm and anarchy into which the 
Republic had sunk after the tumult of the Cionipi, this was 
inevitable ; the Pope himself ultimately recognized the feet ; but 
Catherine wrote to the Priors and Gonfaloniere, reproaching 
them for their ingratitude : u Let us not deceive ourselves, my 
sweet brothers. Many are the offences and iniquities which wc 
have committed against God, against our neighbour, against the 
vicar of Christ, and against Holy Church ; you cannot cloak 
this iniquity by the sins of the pastors and ministers of the 
Church, for it does not pertain to you to punish them, but to 
the Supreme Judge and to His vicar. Now, notwithstanding 
these sins of yours, which have merited great punishment, you 
have received so much mercy ; you have been restored with 
great benignity to the breast of Holy Church, made capable of 
receiving the fruit of the blood, if you will, by Pope Urban VI, 
true Supreme Pontiff and vicar of Christ on earth, who has 
pardoned you and absolved you with such great charity, giving 
you what you have asked, treating you not like children who 
had offended and rebelled against their father, but as though 
you had never offended him. Now you see him in such great 



1 June 22, 1379. Lctttrt de\ dixepatiy 13. 
322 



keep what you have promised. Thereby you show signs of 
great ingratitude ; for which I fear that, if you are not truly 
grateful, God will permit you to inflict the punishment upon 
yourselves, even as you have done in the past/* l The Republic 
of Perugia had concluded a final and complete peace with Urban 
at the beginning of the year, 1379, but was no less tardy in 
paying the tribute, though the Pope was sorely in need of 
every soldo. Catherine sent Neri with a letter to the Priors of 
the People and Commune : u with desire of seeing you succour 
your father and yourselves, in his need and yours ; for to aid 
him is to contribute to your own safety, spiritually and tempor- 
ally M ; urging them to show their gratitude and secure their own 
liberty by giving him all the aid in their power. 2 But it is 
notable that none of the Italian communes, however dissatisfied 
with Urban, showed any disposition to desert him for Clement. 
When, a few months later, a quarrel broke out between the 
Roman Pontiff and the Bolognese, and Clement sent a bishop 
to offer to grant the vicariate of B ologna to the Commune on 
their own terms, if they would recognize him as Pope, the 
Bolognese answered that, at the bidding of the cardinals, they 
had acknowledged Urba n, and that they intended to obey 
UKoever should ultimately be decided by the Church to be the 
true successor of Peter. 3 

In Catherine's letter to the Perugians, we find this remarkable 
passage : 4i You see these times prepared for great burdens, and 
our country doomed to the coming of princes ; and we are 
fragile like glass, because of our many sins and great dissensions. 
If, therefore, we desert our father and do not help him, we shall 
be in danger ; for, being severed from our strength, we shall be 
too weak." And again : u Keep united, for Christ crucified, 
and then do not fear any tyrant ; for the aid of God, for the love 

1 Letter 337 (199). Cf. Gherardi, op. cit., pp. 94-96. 

* Letter 339 (205). Cf. Pellini, I. pp. 1237-1242. Stefano's letter of 
June 22 shows that Ncri had gone to Perugia before that date. 
3 Cf. Raynaldua, vii. p. 389 j Cronka dt Bologna, col. 52a. 

323 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



of whom you will succour His Spouse, will deliver you." l While 
Clement was urging Louis of Anjou to invade Italy for the 
phantasmal kingdom of Adria, Urban was appealing to Louis of 
Hungary and Charles of Durazzo, his cousin, to succour the 
Roman Church and deprive Giovanna of the Neapolitan throne. 
In the January of this year, 1379, ambassadors from the King 
had been in Florence, announcing that their master was coming 
with an army to Italy after Easter, and demanding assistance 
from the Commune. 2 But, for the present, Louis was engaged 
in helping Francesco da Carrara and the Genoese in their war 
against Venice, the famous War of Chioggia, which was taken by 
their allied forces on August 1 5 ; and, at the end of the month, 
Charles arrived with ten thousand Hungarians in the Trevisano, 
where the Lord of Padua was pressing on the siege of Tre\ 
itself* 

It is heartrending to find Catherine involved in this deplorable 
affair ; but it is clear from her letters that she was merely Urban's 
tool, acting in good faith, without the slightest realization of the 
extent to which he and Charles were prepared to carry out their 
scheme. Nothing can palliate the infamy of Charles's conduct 
towards his kinswoman and benefactress, but some slight excuse 
for Urban may be found in the fact that Clement had been the 
first to summon the foreigner into Italy. In her long letter to 
the King of Hungary, urging him, as he had always been the 
champion of the faith against the infidels, to be now the defender 
of the Church, Catherine sets before his eyes the " true and 
most perfect charity that seeketh not her own,* 1 and bids him make 
peace with his other enemies and come speedily. tC Will you 
endure that Antichrist, member of the demon, and a woman 
should cast all our faith into ruin and darkness and confusion ? " 
14 Much good will result from your coming. Perhaps, this truth 
will be made clear without human power, and this poor little 
woman, the Queen, will be delivered from her obstinacy either by 

1 Letter 339 (205). Similarly, to the Sicncsc, in Letter 311 (203) : " Noi 
vcdiamo it tempo ad avvenimento dc* signori " (Harleian MS,). 
8 Anonimo Fhrentino 7 p. 391, 

3H 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 

fear or by love. You see how long Christ on earth has borne with 
her, in not having deprived her in fact of what she has lawfully 
forfeited, only because he waited for her amendment and for love 
of you. If now he were to do it, he would be acting justly, and 
stand excused in God's sight and in yours/* l And to Charles 
of Durazzo she wrote : " with desire of seeing you a virile knight, 
fighting manfully for the glory and praise of the name of God, 
and for the exaltation and reformation of Holy Church " ; bidding 
him come swiftly to Ur ban's succour, since God has chosen him 
to be a column in the Church, an instrument to extirpate heresy 
and exalt the truth, but first overcome the enemies of his own 
soul, by purifying his heart and amending his life, 2 She had 
shordy before sent Neri and another of her followers, the Abate 
Lisolo, to Naples, with a last appeal to Giovanna herself, 
imploring her as her dolcissima madre^ carissima madre f for her 
own salvation, for the sake of her people whom she was plunging 
into civil war, to return to the truth before it should be too late, 
"Alas, how can your heart endure without bursting that your 
subjects should be divided because of you, and that one should 
hold the white rose, another the red ; the one cling to the truth, 
the other to the lie ? See you not that they are all created by 
that most spotless rose of the eternal will of God, and recreated by 
grace in that most ardent crimson rose of the blood of Christ ? '* 3 
Catherine's letter, together with Urban's summons, was probably 
delivered to Charles at Padua at the beginning of November, 
and he at once returned to Hungary, to concert measures with 
the King, 

Connected with Charles's presence at Treviso is one of the 
s addest episodes of Catherine's life. In Florence, after the 

1 Letter 357 (i88), A slightly better text is in the Harlcian MS. 

* Letter 372 (189), 

1 Letter 362 (3 1 8). A letter to Neri from Fra Baxtolommeo di Domenico, 
dated Rome, September t {Lettere dit discefoK, 16), shows that the former had 
gone to Naples shortly before that date, and that Catherine had at length been 
compelled to abandon the idea of going thither in person, as the Pope refused 
his consent. 

3^5 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



overthrow of the Ciompi, mainly through the strange desertion 
of their cause by Michele di Lando, 1 the chief share in the 
government had remained with the artisans of the minor Arts ; 
many of the noblest and most influential of the burghers were in 
exile or under bounds, no less than the lowest plebeians who had 
taken part in the tumults ; plots within and without the city, for 
the restoration of the exiles and the overthrow of the new 
regime, were incessant ; while Cante de' Gabrielli of Gubbio (a 
descendant of that Messer Cante who, as Podesta, had passed 
sentence against Dante three-quarters of a century before), as 
Captain of the People for both six months of 1379, did fearful 
deeds of justice or injustice, beheading or hanging real or 
supposed traitors, torturing suspected persons to extort denunci- 
ations of their fellow-citizens. The exiles looked to the advent 
of Charles of Durazzo much as Dante had done to that of Henry 
of Luxemburg, and the prince himself was ready to lend the aid 
of his soldiers to restore the adherents of the Parte Guelfa to 
Florence. 

Apparently in April, Giannozzo Sacchetti had been arrested 
(for debt, according to Marchionne Stefani), and cast into the prison 
known as the Stinchc. u I understand," wrote Catherine, on 
May 8, to Bartolo Usimbardi and Francesco di Pippino, " that 
Giannozzo has been taken ; I know not how long he will stay 
there. I am pleased at what you, Francesco, write to me about 
it, that you will never abandon him, and so I command you, in 
the name of Jesus Christ, to visit him very often, to comfort and 
help him in all that you can ; think that God demands nought 
else of us, save that we should show upon our neighbour the 
love that we have for Him. I commend him earnestly to you, 
and tell him from me to be a good knight, now that God has 
put him on the field, and that his fighting must be true patience, 
by bowing his head with humility to the sweet will of God, 
Comfort him much in my name and in that of all this family, 

1 Cf. Rodolico, 0/. clt.y pp. 199-206, whose researches reveal Michele** 
conduct in a most sinister aspect, instead of the halo of legendary glory with 
which he had previously been surrounded. 

326 



ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE 



who all have great compassion for him." l Shortly afterwards, 
Giannozzo was set at liberty ; Marchionne Stefan i, who pursues 
him with relentless partisan hate in his chronicle and spares no 
effort to blacken his name, declares that he deceived his creditors 
by his edifying conduct in prison, and robbed a fellow-prisoner of 
his jewels, by the sale of which he escaped into Lombardy. This 
is certainly a calumny ; but it seems clear that Giannozzo joined 
the Florentine rebels in the Paduan district, and, in September, 
he was with the Hungarian army at the siege of Treviso, where 
(in understanding with Lapo da Castiglionchio) Benedetto 
Peruzzi persuaded him to join a conspiracy for the restoration 
of the Guelf exiles to Florence, with the aid of Charles of 
Durazzo. 

Giannozzo returned to Tuscany with letters from the prince, 
to raise money to hire four hundred lances for this purpose from 
the Compagnia di San Giorgio, which was now in Charles's pay. 
In the Florentine contado, he visited Guido della Foresta, Piero 
Canigiani, Antonio da Uzzano, Donato Strada, and Bonifazio 
Peruzzi, all of whom professed themselves favourable to the 
undertaking, But the Florentine ambassadors who were with 
Charles, attempting to arrange peace between Genoa and Venice, 
had warned the Signoria ; and, on October 12, Giannozzo and 
Bonifazio Peruzzi were arrested in a villa at Marignolle, and 
handed over to Cante de* GabriellL Examined under torture on 
the following evening, Giannozzo confessed the whole plot, 
denounced Piero Canigiani and his other accomplices, and (so it 
was said) even accused himself of having forged the letters he 
had brought from Charles of Durazzo. His own brother, 
Franco Sacchetti, was the first to propose, in the Council of the 
Captain, that he should be put to death as a traitor to his native 
land, On October 15, Giannozzo was brought in a cart through 
the city to the place of execution, and there beheaded. The 
other conspirators were condemned to a fine of two thousand 
florins ; Bonifazio Peruzzi and Antonio da Uzzano paid ; but 
Piero Canigiani and the others, being unable to find the amount 
1 Unpublished. Appendix, Letter VL 

327 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

within a month, were put under ban, and their goods forfeited to 
the Commune* The King of Hungary and Charles of Durazzo 
denied all knowledge of the matter, the latter even declaring 
that the death of such a traitor had been too merciful* But it was 
afterwards admitted that the letters were authentic, and that 
Giannozzo's confession of forgery, if really made, had been 
extorted from him by torture, in order to avoid political com- 
plications. 1 A similar conspiracy came to light in December, 
Marchionne Stefant being then one of the priors, when, to 
appease the clamour of the populace led by the demagogues 
Tommaso Strozzi and Giorgio Scali, several of the noblest 
Florentine citizens were beheaded. Among them was Donato 
Barbadori, who had ever served the Republic with such fearless 
fidelity, and who died calmly and emphatically protesting his 
innocence. 

1 Cf. Marchionnc Stefani, Lib. X, rubr. 821, 827, 905 ; Manni's Cronkkttta 
£* Inctrto, p. 217 ; Anonimo Florentine pp. 402-404, and Gherardi's preface, pp. 
260-262 j Palermo, of. fife, pp. cjiL-CXXX. ; Rodolico, op. tt$ n pp. 331-336. 



328 



CHAPTER XV 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 

" Al cielo c ritoruata 
La Sposa at iuo Spoao, 
L' amorosa a 1* amoroso, 
Et a 1* amante F amata." 

Neri cli Landoccio, In Laude dell* Serafica Fcrgi/u* 

All this while, Catherine's life was being slowly consumed in 
the burning fire of her love for the Church ; in her, indeed, had 
the word of the Psalmist been fulfilled to the letter : The zeal 
of thine house hath eaten me up ; and the reproaches of them that 
reproached thee are fallen upon me. These months in Rome had 
been for her a time of intense agony, physical and mental, of 
impassioned labour by word and deed, while her bodily 
infirmities increased continually! until she seemed no longer to 
resemble a living being. 

Towards the close of I j7g , Catherine had moved with her 
spiritual family from the Rione della Colonna, and hoped soon 
to return to Siena, " We have taken a house near San Biagio," 
she wrote, on December 4, to Neri di Landoccio, who was still 
at Naples, <c between the Campo de' Fiori and Sant* Eustachio, 
and we think to return before Easter, by the grace of God." l 
This was the house near th e Minerva, in the present Vi a S. 
Chiang where her cell is now venerated as a chapel, and it was 
Tiere that her last mysterious illness came upon her. Here she 
endured that prolonged torment of soul and body, offering up 
herself as a willing victim to her Divine Bridegroom. To 
those that loved her, and stood by her side during these 
months from January 30, the Monday after Sexagesima Sunday, 
when her last agony began, until April 29, the Sunday before the \rb>%& 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



feast of the Ascension, when she passed away, it seemed a ne^ 
unheard-of spiritual martyrdom, the death for which she had 
so often besought the Lord, for the renovation of the Church 
and the expiation of the sins of the world. 

Two of the letters have been preserved that Bardoccio wrote to 
Urban at her dictation at this time ; for it is clear that she was 
frequently prevented from speaking to him face to face. In one, 
she bewail s the fact that the new c ardina ls and prelates whom he 
has made, farfrom setting an example of virtue and abnegation, 
are simply following in the steps of their p redecessor s : "who 
had grown old in vice, in much pride, impurity, amT avarice, 
committing the greatest simony/' Already Urban had wearied" 
of his first reforming zeal, and there would soon be little to 
choose between him and the man whom Catherine deemed the 
Antipope ; but the Saint was never to realize this. "Pardon my 
presumption, most holy Father," she writes, " that I have 
ventured to write confidently to you, constrained by the Divine 
Goodness, and by the need that is manifest, and by the love I 
bear you, I should have come, instead of writing, but did not 
wish to weary you by coming so often. Have patience with me ; 
for I shall never cease from urging you, by prayer, and by word 
of mouth or letter, as long as I live, until I see in you and in 
Holy Church what I desire, for which I know you desire, much 
more than I, to give your life." l In the other, she exhorts him 
to follow the example of St, Gregory the Great and govern the 
Church with prudence, especially in his dealings with the Roman 
Republic, whose ambassadors have just received an insulting reply 
from the rebellious Prefect, Francesco di Vico ; " I have heard, 
most holy Father, of the reply that the impious Prefect has made 
you ; verily, full of anger and of irreverence towards the Roman 
ambassadors. About this reply, it seems that they will call a 
general council, after which the heads of the Rioni and certain 
other good men will come to you. I beseech you, most holy 
Father, as you have begun, so to continue to confer often with 
them, and, with prudence, bind them with the bond of love. And 

1 Letter 364 (21). 
33° 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 

so I beseech you now, as to what they will say to you after the 
council has been held, to receive them with all the sweetness that 
you can, pointing out to them what is necessary, according as shall 
seem fit to your Holiness. Pardon me ; for love makes me say 
what, perchance, need not be said. For I know that you must 
know the nature of your Roman children, how they are led and 
bound more by gentleness than by any other force or by 
harshness of words ; and you know, too, the great necessity that 
there is for you and Holy Church to preserve this people in 
obedience and reverence to your Holiness ; because here is the 
head and the beginning of our faith. And I humbly beseech 
you to strive with prudence always to promise only what you see 
to be possible for you completely to fulfil, in order that harm, 
shame, and confusion may not follow afterwards. Pardon me, 
sweetest and holiest Father, for saying these words to you. I trust 
that your humility and kindness is content that they should be 
said to you, and that you will not despise or scorn them because 
they come from the mouth of a very vile woman ; for a humble 
man does not consider who speaks to him, but looks to the 
honour of God, and to the truth, and to his salvation/' Let the 
Pope remember "the ruin that came upon all Italy, because no 
check was put upon those evil rulers, who governed in such wise 
that they have been the cause of the spoliation of the Church of 
God." l 

This letter to Urban was Catherine's last political testament. 
It was written on the evening of Monday, January 30, the 
Monday after Sexagesima Sunday. 2 She had barely finished 
dictating it, when her agony came upon her, the repetition of a 

1 Letter 370 (22), corrected by the Harleian MS., with which I read : 
"della risposta che v 1 ha fatta 1* empio prefetto, drittamente empiuto d* ir.i," etc. 
Further on, Catherine refers to an insult to the Sienese ambassador. The 
Sienese had attempted to make peace between the Pope and the Prefect. Cf. 
Cronlca Sanese f col. 265. Augusta Drane (II, pp. 235, 236) has curiously misunder- 
stood and mistranslated the Saint's reference to the Roman council. 

8 That is, if Fra Tommaio Caffarini is right in identifying it with the one 
mentioned by Catherine herself in Letter 373 (102), of which he docs not 
seem certain. Sufplmentum^ III* i, (Casanatensc MS. 2360), <f. 132-13^. 

331 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



rging the populace to rise in tumult 

Fra Raimondo pictures her to us, 

ord, beseeching Him, for honour of 



stroke she had had on the previous night, " After we ha 
written a letter/ 1 wrote Barduccio to Suor Caterina Petriboni, a 
nun in the Florentine convent of S. Piero a Monticelli, u she had 
another stroke, so much more terrible that we all mourned for 
her as dead, and she remained for a long space of time in such a 
state that no sign of life appeared in her ; then, after several 
hours, she rose up, and it did not seem that she was herself." 

A few days later, the rancour that, since the destruction of 
Sant* Angelo, had been steadily increasing between Urban and the 
Romans came to a head. To Catherine's spiritual eyes, the whole 
city seemed full of demons, urging the populace to rise in tumult 
and take the Pontiff's life* 
wrestling in spirit with the Lord, beseeching 
His name and for the sake of the Church, to inflict upon her 
body all the chastisements that the Roman People had merited 
for the innumerable sins committed in the Eternal City, and so 
restore harmony between them and the Pope. It is said that the 
populace assailed the Vatican in arms, and that Urban ordered 
the gates of the palace to be thrown open, received the insurgents 
seated upon his papal throne, and succeeded in appeasing their 
fury, 1 We do not know what part Catherine played in this 
affair, but the reconciliation was attributed to her prayers, and 
not improbably was due to her direct influence upon Giovanni 
Cenci, the democratic leader of the Roman republicans. In that 
case, this was her last political work, and surely not the least noble 
of her achievements. 

"Then/' writes Barduccio Canigiani, u began new pains and 

1 Cf, Legends III. ii. 2-4 (§§ 345, 346) ; Gobelinus Penona, Cosmo Jromium, cap. 
76. The accounts of this affair given by Raynaldus, vii. p. 389, and Maimbourg, 
L pp. 147, 148, arc simply taken from Gobelinus, that of St. Antoninus, III. pp. 
714, 715, being based upon the Legenda* Raynaldus and Maimbourg ascribe it 
to the latter part of 1379, but Catherine, Letter 373 (102), seems to imply that 
it took place on February 2, 1380. We read in the Anonlmo Florentine pp. 40 1 r 
402, under October 10, 1379, of an earlier tumult* where it is stated that the 
Roman People had made Giovanni Cenci tribune of Rome : " E *1 Papa ebbe 
gran paura. Ondc la cosa si riposo in questo tribune." In 1380, Giovanni 
Cenci was appointed Senator of Rome. 

332 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



cruel torments to increase in her body every day. And, we 
being now come to Lent, she began, notwithstanding her weak- 
ness, to be so zealous in prayer that it was a wondrous thing, with 
those humble sighs and dolorous laments that drew our hearts 
from us. I think you know that her prayers were of such 
intensity, that one hour of prayer more consumed that poor little 
body than two days upon the rack would have done another. 1 
Therefore, every morning with tears we lifted her up after Com- 
munion, in such a state that whoso saw her deemed her dead, and 
carried her to her couch. And, after an hour or two, she would 
rise up, and we went to San Pietro, which is a long mile from us, 
and then she set herself to prayer, and she remained there until 
nearly vespers, after which she returned home, so exhausted that 
she seemed a dead woman ; and acting thus she continued, every 
day in the same way, until the third Sunday of Lent/' 

These are things of which it is impossible for us to speak 
Of the language of modern life. We have Catherine's own 
words, in the two wonderful letters written to Fra Raimondo on 
February 15, 1380, the Wednesday after the first Sunday in Lent, 
in which she takes leave of him and of the world. Never was 
the psychology of saindiness so marvellously revealed by one 
who had penetrated its depths, no less securely than she had 
scaled its heights. 

"In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary. 

" Dearest and sweetest father in Christ sweet Jesus. I, 
Catherine, servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write 
to you in His precious blood, with desire of seeing you a column 
newly founded in the garden of Holy Church, like a faithful 
bridegroom of the Truths as you ought to be ; and then shall I 
deem my soul blessed* I would not have you look back because 
of any adversity or persecution, but I would have you glory in 
adversity ; for in enduring we manifest our love and constancy, 
and render glory to God's name ; in other wise, no. Now is the 

1 S fan Jo in su la corda due gtarni t more literally, " two days of the strappado," 
the mediaeval Italian method of examining prisoners. 1 quote the original 
vernacular of this letter, appended to the early Venetian editions of the Diakjtp. 

333 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

time, dearest father, to lose oneself utterly, and to think nothing 
about self ; even as did the glorious labourers, who, with such 
great love and desire, offered up the life of their body and watered 
this garden with blood, with humble and continual prayers, and 
by enduring even unto death. Look to it that I do not see you 
timid, so that your own shadow frighten you, but a virile warrior ; 
and never depart from that yoke of obedience that the Sovereign 
PontifF has laid upon you ; and, also, in the order carry out what 
you see to be the honour of God ; for the great goodness of God 
demands this of us, and He has set us there for nought else. 
Consider how great is the need that we see in Holy Church ; for 
we see her utterly left alone. And thus the Truth made manifest, 
as I write to you in the other letter ; and even as the Spouse is left 
alone, so is her bridegroom left alone. O sweetest father, I will 
not conceal the great mysteries of God from you ; but I will 
recount them as briefly as can be, according as the weak tongue 
can narrate. And, also, I will tell you what I would have you do. 
But receive what I tell you without pain ; for I know not what 
the Divine Goodness will do with me, whether He will make me 
remain or summon me to Himself 

" Father, father and sweetest son, won^rfLdjir^ster^s has 
God wrought from the day of the Circumcision until now ; so 
much that the tongue would not be sufficient to be able to narrate 
them. But let us let all that time go, and come to the Sunday 
of Sexagesima, on which day there were, as in brief I am writing 
you in the other letter, those mysteries which you shall hear ; for 
it seemed to me that never had 1 borne the like. For so great 
was the pain in my heart, that my habit was rent, as much of it 
as I could grasp, as I went round the chapel like a person in 
agony. Whoso had restrained me, would have verily taken my 
life. When the evening of Monday came, 1 was constrained to 
write to Christ on earth and to three cardinals ; I had myself helped, 
and went into the study ; and when I had written to Christ on 
earth, I could write no more ; so great were the pains that 
increased in my body. And, after a little while, the terror of the 
demons began, in such wise that they made me utterly stupefied, 

334 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



mad with rage against me, as if I, worm, had been the cause of 
taking from their hands what they had long time possessed in 
Holy Church. So great was the terror, with the bodily pain, | 
that I wished to fly from the study, and to go into the chapel ; 
as though the study had been the cause of my pains. I raised 
myself up ; and, not being able to walk, I leaned upon my son 
Barduceio. But at once I was hurled down ; and, being hurled 
down, it seemed to me as though the soul had been severed from 
the body ; not in that way as when she passed away from it, for 
then my soul tasted the bliss of the immortals, receiving that 
sovereign good together with them ; 1 but now she seemed like a 
thing reserved ; for 1 did not seem to myself to be in the body, 
but I saw my body as though it had been another, And my soul, 
seeing the pain of him who was with me, turned to know if I had 
aught to do with the body, to say to him : * Son, do not fear ' ; 
and I saw that I could not move the tongue nor any other 
member, any more than a body separated from life. Then I left 
the body as it was, and my understanding kept fixed upon the 
abyss of the Trinity. My memory was full of the recollection of 
the necessity of Holy Church and of all the Christian people. 1 
cried out in God's sight, and with confidence besought the divine 
aid, offering Him my desires, and constraining Him by the blood 
of the Lamb, and by the pains that had been borne ; and so 
earnestly was it besought, that it seemed to me certain that He 
would not deny that petition. Then 1 besought Him for aU of 
you, praying Him to fulfil in you His will and my desires* 
Then I besought Him to deliver me from eternal damnation. 
While I remained thus for a very long while, so long that the 
family mourned for me as dead, all the terror of the demons had 
passed away. Then came the presence of the humble Lamb 
before my soul, saying : ' Fear not ; for I will fulfil thy desires 
and those of My other servants. I would have thee see that I 
am the good craftsman, and do as the potter, who mars and makes 
again as seems good to him. Thus do I with these My vessels; 
1 can mar them and make them again ; and, therefore, I take the 
1 She refers to her trance, or mystical death f in 1370. Cf. chapter v. 

335 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



vessel of thy body and make it again in the garden of Holy 
Church, in other wise than in the time passed/ And, that sweet 
Truth clasping me round with most winning ways and words 
which I pass over, my body began to breathe a little, and to show 
that the soul had returned to her vessel. I was full of wonder, 
and such great anguish remained in my heart that I still have it 
there. Every joy, every consolation, and all bodily food were 
taken from me ; when I was then brought back into the place 
above, the room seemed to me full of demons ; and they began 
to give me another battle, the most terrible that I ever endured, 
striving to make me believe and see that 1 was not she who was 
in the body, but, as it were, an unclean spirit. I called upon the 
divine aid with a sweet tenderness, not, indeed, refusing labour, 
albeit I said : ' O God, come to my assistance ; O Lord, make 
haste to help me. Thou hast allowed me to be alone in this 
battle, without the consolation of the father of my soul, of which 
I am deprived through my own ingratitude.' 

u Two nights and two days passed with these tempests. True 
is it that the mind and desire received no injury, but the under- 
standing remained ever fixed upon its object, and the body seemed, 
as it were, to have died. Afterwards, the day of the Purification 
of Mary, I wished to hear Mass. Then were all the mysteries 
renewed ; and God showed the great need that was, and is, as 
afterwards appeared ; for Rome has been all on the point of 
revolting, traducing miserably and with great irreverence. But 
God has laid the ointment upon their hearts, and I believe that 
the affair will have a good conclusion. Then God imposed upon 
me this obedience, that, all this time of holy Lent, I should have 
the desires of all the family sacrificed and offered up in His sight, 
with this sole intention, namely, for Holy Church ; and that I 
should hear a Mass every morning at dawn ; which, you know, 
is an impossible thing for me, but, in obedience to Him, every- 
thing has become possible. So much has this desire become a 
part of me, that the memory retains nought else ; the under- 
standing can see nought else, and the will can desire nought else. 
And not merely does she reject the things of this world for this, 

336 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



but, though she holds converse with the true citizens, the soul 
neither can nor will rejoice in their joy, but only in the hunger 
which they have, and had while they were pilgrims and wanderers 
in this life. 

" In this and in many other ways, which I cannot narrate, m 
life is being distilled and consumed in this sweet Spouse ; 1 in this 
fashion, and the glorious martyrs with their bloody^ I pray the j 
Divine Goodness soon to let me behold the redemption of His 
people. When it is the hour of tierce, I rise up from Mass, and ' 
you would see a dead woman going to San Pietro ; and I enter 
anew to labour in the little bark of Holy Church, There I stay 
thus until nearly the hour of vespers ; and from that place I 
would fain never go, nor day nor night, until I see this people a 
little setded and established with their father. This body keeps 
without any food, even without a drop of water ; with such great 
and sweet bodily torments as I never endured at any time, so 
that my life hangs upon a thread. Now I know not what the 
Divine Goodness will please to do with me ; as far as I feel, I do 
not say that I perceive His will and intention with regard to me ; 
but, as to bodily sensation, it seems to me that I am to consume it 
at this time with a new martyrdom in the sweetness of my soul, 
that is, in Holy Church. Then He will, perhaps, make me rise again 
with Him ; He will put an end and bound both to my miseries 
and to my crucified desires ; or He will keep His wonted ways in * 
circling round my body with His power. I have prayed, and am 
praying His infinite mercy to accomplish His will in me, and not 
to leave you or the others orphans, but ever to direct you along 
the way of the doctrine of truth, with true and most perfect light. 
I am certain that He will do it. 

u Now I pray and urge you, father and son given me by that 
sweet Mother Mary, if you hear that God is turning the eyes of 
His mercy upon me, to begin your life anew ; and, like one dead 
to all feeling of sense, cast yourself into this little bark of Holy 
Church, And be always cautious in speaking with others. You 
will seldom be able to have an actual cell ; but 1 would have you 
always dwell in the cell of the heart, and always bear it with you. 



22 



337 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

For, as you know, when we are locked into that, our cnemi 
cannot offend us. Then, every exercise that you do will be 
directed and ordained according to God. Also, 1 pray you to 
ripen your heart with a holy and true prudence, and to let your 
life be an example in tHe eyes of the laity, by never conforming 
yourself with the customs of the world. And let that generosity 
towards the poor and voluntary poverty, which you have always 
had, be renewed and refreshed in you, with true and perfect 
humility ; and do not let it ever grow lax, because of any state or 
exaltation that God gives you ; but plunge yourself down more 
deeply into the valley of that humility, finding delight in taking 
the food of souls at the table of the CrosSj embracing humble, 
faithful and continual prayer as a mother, with holy watchfulness, 
celebrating Mass every day, unless by chance it should be necessary 
to abstain from it. Shun unnecessary and light speech, but be 
and show yourself mature in what you say, and in all you do. 
Cast away all tenderness for yourself and all servile fear ; for the 
sweet Church has no need of such folk, but of cruel persons, cruel 
to themselves and pitiful to her. T hese are the things which I 
pray you to strive to observe. Also, I pray you to get into your 
hands the Book and all my writings which you can find, you and 
Fra Bartolommeo and Fra Tommaso and the Master ; and do 
with them what you see to be most to the honour of God, together 
with Messer Tommaso ; l m them I found some recreation. I 
pray you further, as far as you will be able, to be the pastor and 
ruler of this family, even as a father, to preserve them in love of 
charity and in perfect union ; so that they may not be left 
scattered, like sheep without a shepherd* And I think to do more 
for them, and for you, after my death than in life. I will pray 
the eternal Truth to pour out over you all the fulness of grace 
and gifts that He has given to my soul, in order that you may be 
shining lights set on a candlestick. And I pray you to pray to 
the eternal Bridegroom that He may make me fulfil manfully the 
obedience that He has laid upon me, and may forgive me the 
multitude of my iniquities. Also, I pray you to pardon me all 
1 Tommaso Petra, then one of the papal secretaries. 

338 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 

the disobedience, irreverence, and ingratitude that I have com- 
mitted towards you, and all the pain and sorrow that I have caused 
you, and the little solicitude that I have had for your salvation, 
I ask your benediction. 

" Pray earnestly to God for me, and have prayers offered, for 
the love of Christ crucified. Forgive me for having written 
words of bitterness to you ; I do not write them to you to 
distress you, but because 1 am in doubt, and know not what the 
goodness of God will do with me. I want to have done my duty. 
And do not make yourself unhappy, because with bodily presence 
I am far away from you, and you from me ; for, although your 
presence would be a very great consolation to me, I have greater 
consolation and gladness at seeing the fruit that you are producing 
in Holy Church* Now I beseech you to labour more zealously, 
for never had she such great need. And Christ on earth and 
Messer Tommaso are sending you the instruments with which 
you will be able to work well. 1 And never, because of any per- 
secution, depart without leave of our lord the Pope, Take 
comfort, take comfort in Christ sweet Jesus, without any bitter- 
ness. I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet 
charity of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love," 2 

The letter, or rather revelation, which accompanied this, and 
which Fra Tommaso Caffarini declares that Catherine wrote with 
her own hand, is entitled : "To the aforesaid Maestro Raimondo, 
signifying to him certain things and new mysteries that God had 
wrought in her soul on the Sunday of Sexagesima ,f : — 

" In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary. 

" I was panting with sorrow, through the crucified desire 
which was newly conceived in the sight of God ; for the light 
of the understanding had mirrored itself in the eternal Trinity, 
and in that abyss was seen the beauty and dignity of the rational 
creature, and the misery into which the soul falls by the fault of 

1 {, e. the papal bnefs, several of which, addressed to Raimondo at Genoa, arc 
tn the A re hi via Vatican^ Reg. 310, 

2 Letter 373 (102). I quote throughout from the fuller and more accurate 
text of the Caianatense MS. 292. 

339 






SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



mortal sin, and the necessity of Holy Church which God mani- 
fested in His breast ; and how no one can attain to taste the 
beauty of God in the abyss of the Trinity, save by the means of 
this sweet Spouse, because we must all pass through the gate of 
Christ crucified, and this gate is not found elsewhere than in 
Holy Church. I saw that this Spouse offered life, for she holds 
life in herself in such wise that there is no one who can slay her, 
and that she gave strength and light, for there is no one who can 
weaken her nor give her darkness, as far as concerns her very self. 
And I saw that her fruit never fails, but ever increases. 

u Then said God eternal : * All this dignity, which thy under- 
standing could not comprehend, is given to man by My goodne ss. 
Look with grief and bitter sorrow, and thou shalt see that none 
go to this Spouse save for her external raiment, that is, for her 
temporal substance. But thou seest her destitute of those who 
take or seek what is within this Spouse, to wit, the fruit of the 
blood. Whoso does not bring the price of chanty with true 
humility, and with the light of the most holy faith, shall not 
partake of this fruit to life, but to death ; he would act like the 
thief, who takes what is not his ; for the fruit of the blood belongs 
to those who bring the price of love, because she is founded in love 
and is love itself And for love I would have every man give to 
her, according as I, God eternal, give to My servants to administer 
in diverse ways, even as they have received. But I am grieved 
that I find no one to minister to her. Nay, it seems that every 
one has abandoned her. But I will find the remedy/ 

" The sorrow and the fire of desire waxing stronger, I cried 
out in the sight of God, saying : c What can I do, O inestimable 
Fire ? ' And His benignity replied : c Thou canst offer up thy 
life anew, and never give thyself rest. To this exercise have I 
set and am setting thee, thee and all those who follow and shall 
follow thee. Take heed, then, never to slacken, but ever to 
increase your desires ; for I, with affection of love, shall surely 
succour you with My grace for soul and for body. And, in order 
that your minds may not be occupied in other things, I have 
made provision by giving an impulse to her whom I have set to 

340 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



govern you, and with mysteries and new ways I have drawn her 
and put her to this exercise ; whereby she with her substance 
serves my Church, and you with continual, humble, and faithful 
prayers, and with those exercises that shall be necessary, 1 These 
will be assigned to thee and to them by My goodness, to each one 
according to his degree. Devote, then, thy life and thy heart 
and thy affection solely to this Spouse, for Me, without thyself 
Gaze upon Me, and behold the bridegroom of this Spouse, to wit, 
the Sovereign Pontiff, and see his good and holy intention, which 
intention is without moderation ; and thou seest that, even as the 
Spouse is alone, so is he alone, I permit that, with the methods 
he uses without moderation, and with the fear that he gives his 
subjects, he should sweep out My Church. But another shall 
come who with love shall bear him company, and fill her again. 5 * 
It will fare with this Spouse as fares with the soul ; for, first, fear 
enters her, and afterwards, when she is stripped of vices, love fills 
her again and reclothes her with virtues. All this shall be by 
sweet enduring, which is and shall be sweet to those who, in very 
truth, are nourished and shall be nourished at her breast. But do 
thou bid My vicar reconcile himself with every person, according 
to his power, and give peace to every one who will receive it. 
And to the columns of Holy Church say that, if they wish to 
repair her great ruin, they must do thus : they must unite together 
to be a garment to cover up the conduct that appears faulty in 
their father. Let them live ordered lives, and keep at their sides 
persons who fear and love Me. Let them meet together, casting 

1 This passage, in the plural, is addressed to Catherine's followers in general, tuttt 
quelli tfo ft seguitano e Mguiferatwo, the queiia th % fa ho posta the vi govern / being 
Catherine herself. The change from thee to you, and back from you to thee, is thus 
clear. 

3 Ma altri vtrrh the con a more t aaompagntra e la riemptra. That Catherine's 
contemporary disciples understood the sentence thus, seems clear from Fra 
Tommaso CafFarini's translation : Bed alius veniet qui cum a more eum assoriab'tt et 
repieblt Etdesiam ; but the Italian might equally mean : " Another shall come 
who shall bear her company in love, and fill her again/' Cf. Dante, Purg. vi. 
114. In any case, it is simply the common mediaeval prophecy of the ideal Pope, 
ihcpapa angelko, who is to reform and renovate the Church, 

341 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

themselves to earth ; and, when they do so, I who am Light will 
give them that light which shall be necessary to Holy Church. 
And, when they have seen among themselves what should be done, 
let them report it to My vicar, with true unity, promptly, boldly, 
and with great deliberation, and he will be constrained not to 
resist their good wills, because he has a holy and good 
intention/ l 

* My tongue is not sufficient to narrate such great mysteries, 
nor what the understanding saw and the affection conceived. 
The day passed, full of wonder, and the evening came. And 
feeling my heart so drawn by affection of love that I could make 
no resistance to it, but must needs go to the place of prayer, and « 
feeling that disposition come which 1 had at the time of death, 2 i 
I knelt down with very great self-reproach, because I served the 
Spouse of Christ with great ignorance and negligence, and was the 
cause through which others did the same. Rising up, with the 
impression before the eye of my understanding of what I have 
said, God placed me before Himself, albeit 1 am always present 
to Him, because He contains all things in Himself; but in a new 
way, as though memory, understanding, and will had nought to 
do with my body. And with such great light did it contemplate 
this Truth, that in this abyss were then renewed the mysteries of 
Holy Church, and all the graces past and present received in my 
life, and the day on which my soul was espoused in faith. 8 All 
these things passed away from my mind, through the fire that had 
waxed stronger ; and I attended only to what could be done to 
make a sacrifice of myself to God for Holy Church, and to 
remove the neglect and ignorance of those whom God had put 
into my hands. Then the demons cried out terribly against me, 
looking by the dread they inspired to impede and slacken my free 
and flaming desire. They struck against the outward body ; but 

1 This was evidently to be the subject of the letter to three cardinals, which 
she found herself unable to write. 

* he. in 1370, 

8 E il £1 eke Infidefu sposata P am ma mia. So the Casana tense MS. f with which 
Fra Tonimaso's Latin version corresponds. 

3+ 2 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



the desire was the more enkindled, and 1 cried out ; c O God 
eternal, receive the sacrifice of my life in this mystical body of 
Holy Church* I have nought to give, save what Thou hast 
given me. Take my heart, and press it out over the face of this 
Spouse/ Then eternal God, turning the eye of His clemency, 
plucked out my heart, and pressed it out into Holy Church. And 
with such force had He drawn it to Himself that if, not wishing 
that the vessel of my body should be shattered, He had not 
straightway circled it round with His strength, my life would have 
departed. Then the demons cried out much more, as though 
they had felt intolerable pain ; and they strove to fill me with 
terror, threatening to deal with me in such wise that I should be 
unable to do this exercise* But because Hell cannot resist the 
virtue of humility joined to the light of most holy faith, my mind 
drew itself together the more, and worked with weapons of fire, 
hearing such winning words in the sight of the Divine Majesty, and 
promises that gave joy. And, in truth, I was thus in so great a 
mystery that the tongue henceforth is no longer sufficient to speak 
of it, 

M Now I say : thanks, thanks be to the most high, eternal 
God, who has placed us on the field of battle, like knights, to 
combat for His Spouse with the shield of most holy faith. The 
field is left free for us, by that virtue and power with which was 
defeated the demon who possessed the human race, and who was 
defeated, not in virtue of the humanity of Christ, but in virtue of 
His Godhead. With this will he now be defeated ; that is, the 
demon wiU not be defeated by the mere suffering of our bodies, 
but in virtue of the fire of the divine, most ardent, and 
inestimable Charity. Thanks be to God, Amen. Sweet Jesus, 
Jesus Love," l 

In this mystical agony, Catherine passed the next ten days, 
between her house and St. Peter's, until the third Sunday in Lent, 
when, as she prayed in the basilica before Giotto's mosaic of the 

1 Letter 371 (103), corrected and supplemented by the Casanatcnse MS, 292. 
A Latin version by Fra Tommaso Caftan ni is in his Suppkmtntum, III. 1 
(Casanatense MS. 2360), IF, 123-126 p. 

343 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



Navicel/a y it seemed to her that the bark of the Church was 
placed upon her shoulders, and that it crushed her to death with 
its weight. Her disciples carried her back, in a dying state, and 
laid her upon her couch, from which she never rose again save 
once, M She lay in this way for eight weeks," writes Barduccio, 
" without raising her head, full of such intolerable torments from 
head to foot, that she of ttimes said : ■ These are not bodily or 
natural pains, but it seems that I have given leave to the demons 
to torment this body at their pleasure/ And, verily, it seemed 
surely that it was so ; for she endured the most grievous pains 
that were ever heard, and it would seem to me a profanation to 
tell you of her patience ; but this much will I tell you, that, when 
a new agony came, she raised her eyes with joy to God, and said : 
* Thanks be to Thee, eternal Bridegroom, who every day dost 
newly grant such gifts and such graces to me, wretched woman, 
and Thy unworthy servant.* M 

Tommaso Petra tells us how, hearing of her condition, he 
went to visit her, and found her lying upon the hard boards that 
formed her bed, in the room that had been transformed already 
into an oratory. He urged her to make her last will and 
testament, by prescribing a rule of life for all her disciples, that 
each might know what he or she should do after her death, 
u Leave us/ f he said, *' all rich in divine love by this last will and 
testament, for I am certain that this injunction that I lay upon 
you will be most pleasing to the Lord/' 1 At his bidding, she 
summoned all her spiritual sons and daughters who were then in 
Rome, and delivered to them u a devout, notable, and fruitful 
discourse," of which one of th ose present has left an account in 
writing. It is, as it were, a summary of what, all through her 
HFe, she had striven to teach them by word and by deed : — 

w In the first place, she said that, in the beginning of her 
spiritual life, she recognized that, in order to give herself entirely 
to God and to possess Him fully, it was first nec essary to strip he r 
heart and affection of every sensitive love of every creature and 

1 Tommaso Petra's letter to Fra Bartolommeo, with some slight variations, ii 
included in both the Sufphmcntum and the Processus* 

344 






THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 

of every created thing outside of God ; because the heart cannot 
be given completely to God, unless it be free, open, pure, and 
single ; and that she had chiefly striven to do this, with great 
solicitude, being desirous to seek God by the way of suffering, 

(t She said, further, that she kept the eye of her understandin g 
steadfast in a light of liv ings faith, holding for certain that 
whatever happened to her or to others proceeded from God, 
through the great love that He bears His creatures, and not 
through hate. And thence she acquired and conceived a love and 
a readiness for holy obedience to the commands of God and those 
of her superiors, thinking that all their commands proceeded from 
God, either for the necessity of her salvation or for the increase of 
virtue In her souL And she added : * This I say, in the sight of 
my sweet Creator : I have never in the least degree sinned against 
obedience, through His goodness/ 

" Next, she said that God had made her see that she could 
never come to perfection, nor acquire in herself any true virtue, 
without the means of humble, faithful, and continuous prayer ; 
saying: * This is the mother which conceives and nourishes all 
virtues in the soul ; and without her they all grow weak and 
fail/ Very much did she exhort us to be zealous in prayer, 
defining two kinds of prayers, vocal and mental To vocal prayer, 
she said, we should apply ourselves at fixed hours ; but to mental 
prayer, continuously ; ever striving to know ourselves and the 
great goodness of God towards us. She said, also, that, in order 
to attain to purity of mind, it was necessary to abstain utterly 
from every judgment of our neighbour and from every empty 
talk about his doings, but always to consider the will of God in 
His creature; adding, with great emphasis: 'On no account 
must we judge the will of a creature ; even if we see a thing to 
be a manifest sin, we must not pass judgment upon it t J>ut, in 
holy and true compassion, offer it up to God with humble and 
devout prayer/ And on another occasion, speaking upon this 
point, she declared to the father of her soul that ntvtr^ for any 
persecution, murmuring, detraction, injury, or insult, that had 
been said or in any way done to her, had anything ever entered 

345 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



into her mind save that whoso did, or spoke thus to her, was 
impelled by charity or by zeal for the salvation of her soul. And 
for this she thanked the inestimable goodness of God, who with 
this light h ad saved her, through His grace, from the danger of 
judging her neighbour. 

" Lastly, she said that she had set very great hope and 
confidence in the Divine Providence ; and to this she invited and 
exhorted us all. She told us that she had found and tasted its 
wondrous greatness from her childhood. And she added : ' You, 
too, have experienced and seen it so great and so bountiful that, 
if our hearts had been harder than stone, our hardness and 
coldness must needs have been dissolved. Be enamoured, then, 
children, of this sweet Providence, for it will never fail whoso 
hopeth in it, and especially you. 1 

** Exhorting us and humbly inciting us to these and many other 
things, she besought us for what our Saviour left as testament to 
His holy disciples, that we should love one another. And, 
speaking with enkindled speech, she often said : * L5ve one 
another, my children, love one another, for by this shall you 
show that you have had me and own me for mother, and I shall 
hold you to be my most beloved children ; for, by being virtuous, 
you will be my glory and my crown. And I will pray the Divine 
Goodness to pour out upon you all the abundance of gifts and 
graces which it has pleased Him to infuse into my soul/ 

"Also, she laid this command upon us all : i My children, do 
not let your desires slacken, touching the reformation and good 
state of Holy Church. But, ever more enkindled, offer tears 
with humble and continual prayer in the sight of God for this 
sweet Spouse, and for the vicar of Christ, Pope Urban VI * ; 
saying of herself: * Long while have I borne this desire; but 
especially, now more than seven years ago, it seemed that God 
put this exercise and enflamed desire into my soul. And, from 
then until now, no time has ever passed without my offering it 
up before the Divine Goodness, with mournful and painful and 
sweet desires ; and it has pleased His goodness for this to lay 
i weak body and make it bear many diverse and vaned 



upon 



346 



many 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 

infirmities and sufferings. But, especially at the present time, it 
seems that my sweet Creator, as He did with Job, has given 
leave to the demons to torment and smite it as they please. 
Never do I remember at any time to have borne so many sweet 
sufferings and torments as now I bear. Thanks be to His 
infinite goodness, which makes me worthy to endure for glory 
and praise of His name in this sweet Spouse. And now t at the 
last, it seems to me that my most sweet Bridegroom, after so 
much enflamed and panting desire, so many sufferings and bodily 
infirmities, wills that my soul should utterly leave this dark 
prison and return to her source. I speak not as though I saw the 
certainty of His will in this, but it seems to me so/ 

•* And then, speaking emphatically, she added : ■ Hold for 
certain, sweetest and dearest children, that, in departing from the 
body, I in truth have consumed and given my life in the Church 
and for the Church ; which thing is a most special grace for me.* 
And, to comfort us all, who were weeping bitterly round her, she 
said : * My children, you ought not to be grieved at this, but to 
have singular joy and gladness thereat ; considering that I am 
leaving a place of such great sufferings and shall go to rest in the 
pacific sea, God eternal, and to be united, without any mean, to 
my most sweet Bridegroom. And I promise you that I shall be 
more perfectly with you, and shall be able to help you more there 
than I have been able to do here, inasmuch as I shall be delivered 
from darkness and united with the true and eternal light. Never- 
theless, I commit both life and death to the will of my Creator ; 
for, if He sees that I can be of any use to any one here, I would 
not shun labour, nor torment, nor any pain ; but I am ready, for 
His honour and for the salvation of my neighbour, to give my 
life a thousand times a day, and each time with greater suffering 
than the other, if it were possible. 1 

11 Her discourse being ended, she called us each one by name, 
and enjoined upon each one what she wished him to do after her 
life, if it was God's pleasure that it should now be ended ; and 
each one, with humility and reverence, received her obedience. 
Then she besought us all humbly, to pardon her if she had not 

347 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



given us a virtuous example by her teaching and her life, nor 
helped us with her prayers before God as much as she could and 
ought, and if she had not satisfied our needs as she was bound, 
and for every pain, trouble, and sorrow of which she had been 
the cause to us, saying : * Every failing has been through my 
want of knowledge. But I verily confess in the sight of God 
that I have always had, and have, a continuous and inflamed desire 
of your perfection and salvation ; and if you, my most beloved 
children, follow this, you will be, as I said, my crown and my 
glory/ And at the end, while we all wept* she blessed each 
individually, in her usual way, in Christ/* ] 

On the evening of Holy Saturday, March 24, Fra Bartolorn- 
meo di Domenico arrived in Rome. He was then prior of San 
Domenico at Siena, and had been sent by his provincial on 
business of the order. Not knowing of Catherine's illness, he at 
once went to the house, and was aghast at her altered aspect. 
Only by bending down his ear to her mouth, and then with 
difficulty, could he hear her whisper that it was well with her by 
the grace of our sweet Saviour. The next morning, it being 
Easter Day, he celebrated Mass in her room ; when, to the great 
wonder and consolation of all, she rose from her couch unaided, 
and, together with her other spiritual children, received the 
Blessed Sacrament from his hands. Afterwards, she relapsed into 
her motionless condition, but had recovered her speech sufficiently 
to talk freely with him during the few days that he remained in 
Rome. At length, Bartolommeo's duty calling him back, she 
bade him return to Siena, laying upon him as her last command 
that he should make himself the constant companion of Fra 
Raimondo, who would shortly be elected master-general of the 
order. The friar then implored her, if it was the will of God 
that he should go, to obtain from Him as a sign that he might 
see her restored to health first. Accordingly, on the following 

1 This was first published by Gigli, apparently from a contemporary MS,, as 
an appendix to the Diaf&p. C£ Ltgtnda, III, iv, 1-5 (§ § 360-364), It ta 
clear from Barduccio's letter to Suor Caterina that this took place many days before 
the end, before either Fra Bartulommeo or Stcfano Maconi came to Rome. 

348 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



day, he found her as merry and joyous as she had been of old 
when enduring the pains in her side. She stretched out her arms, 
tenderly embraced him, and again bade him depart. " But I, if I 
may speak with the Prophet, deceived by ihe Lord^ decided to set 
out, I departed therefore ; but, after I had reached my convent 
at Siena, I was informed by a letter from one of her sons that, on 
that very day, not long after my departure, she had returned to 
the same state of inability to move body and limbs in which she 
had been before* Then, after a few days, as the Legenda telleth, 
she blissfully passed from this dying life and valley of tears to 
the long-desired, sweet embraces of her Bridegroom. " l 

A few days after Bartolommeo had left, Stefano Maconi at 
last arrived in Rome. Catherine's last letter to him, half playfully 
bidding him come or she would get him no more indulgences, 
nor do anything else for him, and seeming surprised, perhaps 
a little hurt, at a report that he intended to become a monk (of 
which he had told her nothing), had given no hint of her approach- 
ing end ; 2 but he had heard of her plight from the others, and, 
while praying at night in great sorrow in the vaults under the 
Spedale, had heard a voice ; "Go to Rome, for the time of thy 
dear mother's departure is at hand/* It was now his office to 
write what seems to have been t he last letter written in her 
nam e : * c Write, my son Stefano," she said, u to Siena to Fra 
Bartolommeo, that the Lord is exercising His mercy upon me, 
and therefore let him, and all his companions in San Domenico, 
beseech the Bridegroom Jesus to suffer me to offer up my life, 
even to the shedding my blood for His glory, to illumine the face 
of the Church/ 1 8 

The end came on April 29, the Sunday before the Ascension, 
after prolonged and continual suffering. A few hours before the 
dawn, all the spiritual family were summoned, and Giovanni 
Tantucci gave her the absolution, a culpa et a poena^ for the 



1 Pwtssus, coll. 1358-1361. 

2 Letter 369 (263). 

8 Barth. Senensis, 0/. nV., Lib. I. cap. n, 12. 
258-260. 

349 



Cf. Augusta Drane, II. pp. 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



reception of the indulgence granted by the Pope at the hour of 
death. When day came, extreme unction was administered by 
the Abbot of Sant* Antimo, whose fall had already been forgiven 
him. 

Catherine lay as though she were unconscious ; but, shortly 
after receiving the unction, she began to change utterly, and to 
move her face and arms as though enduring a last and most 
terrible assault from evil spirits. This lasted nearly two hours. 
She said, again and again : M Peccavi y Domine, miserere met " ; and : 
c * Credo \ credo " ; and once, after having been silent for a little, as 
though hearing an accusation brought against her, she answered 
with a joyous countenance : " Never vainglory, but always the 
true glory and praise of Jesus Christ crucified/* Then, as though 
a victory had been won, her face was suddenly all transfigured, 
her eyes grew radiant, ** and it seemed that she had come forth 
from a great abyss/* They helped her to sit up ; and, while 
leaning upon Monna Alessa in whose arms she had been lying, 
keeping her eyes fixed upon the Crucifix, she began to speak of 
the goodness of God, and to make a general confession, accusing 
herself in particular of negligence in seeking the salvation of souls 
and the reformation of the Church, and of ingratitude for the 
divine gifts. "I have not reverenced the innumerable gifts and 
graces of so many sweet torments and sufferings as has pleased 
Thee to lay upon this weak body, and, therefore, I have not borne 
them with that inflamed desire and love with which Thou hast given 
them to me." Then she asked again for the indulgence a culpa 
el apoena> saying that it had been granted to her by both Pope 
Gregory and Pope Urban. •* She spoke," writes Barduccio, 
H like one that was starving for the blood of Christ." Turning 
to those of her spiritual children who had not been present at the 
discourse which she had uttered u many days before," she now told 
each (as she had done the others) what she would have him do 
after her life. Pointing to Stefano with her finger, she said : 
u And thee, in virtue of holy obedience, I command in the name 
of God to go by all means to the Carthusian order, for God has 
called and chosen thee to that," She asked pardon of all with 

35° 



THE PASSAGE FROM THE WORLD 



great humility, for the little solicitude that it seemed to her she 
had had for their salvation , said some words to a Roman disciple 
named Lucio, and lastly to Barduccio, and then returned to her 
prayers. Let Barduccio tell the rest : — 

* c O that you had seen with what reverence and humility she 
received many times the blessing of her sorrowful mother ; verily, 
I tell you it was a sweet sorrow. O what a holy thing it was to 
see that disconsolate mother commend herself to her blessed 
daughter, and ask and receive her blessing ; verily, they moved 
our hearts ; and, in particular, the mother besought the daughter 
to obtain grace for her from God, that she might not offend Him 
in her great sorrow. All these things did not distract her from 
her prayers ; but, speaking continuously of God, she prayed on ; 
and, as she drew near her end, she offered special prayers for 
Holy Church, for which she repeated that she was giving her life, 
and prayed for Pope Urban VI, whom she emphatically confessed 
was true Sovereign Pontiff, exhorting her children to lay down 
their lives for this truth. Then she prayed with great fervour 
for all her beloved children whom God had given her to love, 
using many of those words that our Saviour used, when He prayed 
to His Father for His disciples, praying so fervently that not 
only our hearts, but the stones should have broken. Making the 
sign of the Cross, she blessed us all ; and thus she approached 
her longed-for end, persevering continuously in prayer, and 
saying : * Lord, Thou dost summon me to Thyself, and I am 
coming to Thee, not by my own merits, but solely through Thy 
mercy, which mercy 1 crave from Thee in virtue of Thy blood/ 
And, at the last, she cried out many times : Saugue, Sangue. 
Finally, after the example of our Saviour, she said : ' Father, into 
Thy hands 1 commend my soul and my spirit' ; and thus sweetly, 
with her face like an Angel's, bowing down her head, she gave up 
the ghost." l 

It was about midday, " the sixth hour, that is to say, the 
culmination of the day," as Dante has it, when Catherine thus 

1 Lettera tit., di Barduccio di Piero Canigtani a suor Caterina Petribmi ; Ltggenda 
minore, pp. 163 ct seq. ; Legenda, III. iv. 6 (§ 365) ; Epist. Domni Stepham, § 7, 

351 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

passed to the embraces of her Divine Bridegroom. Stefano 
carried the body to the church of the Minerva, where it lay until 
the evening of Tuesday, May I, exposed to the veneration of the 
people, working innumerable miracles, as men deemed, upon the 
souls and bodies of those that approached it. Thinking still 
more to enkindle their devotion, Giovanni Tantucci went up into 
the pulpit, and attempted to address the crowd ; but such was the 
noise of the throng that he could not get a hearing. He cried 
out in a loud voice : " I had meant to say somewhat in praise of 
this holy virgin, but it is manifest to all that she has no need of 
our sermons, for Ijer eternal Bridegroom is Himself declaring her 
merits, and honouring her in His own fashion " ; and came down 
to join them. Urban himself had the funeral carried out with all 
ecclesiastical pomp, and Giovanni Cenci, the Senator of Rome, 
had another requiem offered in the name of the Roman People, 
with equal solemnity. Thus, for one brief moment, did the 
Papacy and the Republic of Rome seem to meet in harmony and 
union by the side of Catherine's tomb. 



35 2 



CHAPTER XVI 



CATHERINE'S LITERARY WORK 



'* Anco ri prego che il Libra e ogai scrtttiira la quale trovaste dl me, vol e frate 
fiartolomeo e frate Tomaio c il Maestro, tc le rechiate per le man! ; e fatene quello che redele 
che sia piu otiore ell D)o v con missere Tomaio insieme: nel quale io trovava alcuna 
recreazione/' — St. Catherine to Fra Raimondo, Letter 373, (101). 

At the end of her life, Catherine took thought for the written 
word that she was leaving behind her, still to speak with her voice 
after she had passed away. We have seen her, in her last letter, 
com mend her work s to Fra Raimondo and her other literary 
executors : il Libra e ogni scrittura la quale trovaste di me. The 
literary value of these remains is probably the last thing of which 
the Saint, M this blessed virgin and mother of thousands of souls,*' 
as Barduccio calls her, would have thought ; she was not, in any 
normal sense of the words, a " woman of letters '*; but, neverthe- 
less, her s piritual and mystical writings rank among the classics of 
the language of her beloved native land, and hold, indeed, a 
position of unique jmportance in the literature of the fourteenth 
century. 

It was in the brief interval between her leaving Florence and 
her going to Rome, a few months of comparative peace which she 
passed at Siena in the late summer and early autumn of 1378, that 
Catherine had completed her wonderful book : the Dialogo, or 
Trattato della Divina Prowidenza^ also known as the Libro delta 
Divina Dottrina. 

" When the peace had been announced," writes Fra 
Raimondo, "she returned to her own home, and set herself with 
fresh diligence to the composition of a certain book, which, 
inspired by the supreme Spirit, she dictated in her vernacular. 
She had besought her secretaries (who were wont to write the 
letters which she despatched in all directions) attentively to observe 



23 



353 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

everything when, according to her custom, she was rapt out of her 
corporeal senses, and carefully to write down whatever she the n 
dictated. This they did heedfuTly, and compiled a book full of 
high and most salutary doctrines, which had been revealed to her 
by the Lord and were dictated by her, by word of mouth, in the 
vernacular speech/ 1 1 In her last letter, Catherine simply refers 
to it as it libro nel quale to trovava alcuna recreazione^ u the book in 
which I found some recreation n ; and, although her friends and 
disciples thus describe her as dictating it to her secretaries while 
" rapt in singular excess and abstraction of mind," it is not clear 
that she herself would have made any claims of supernatural 
authority for it, or have regarded it as anything more than the 
pious meditations of a spirit ki athirst with very great desire for 
the honour of God and the salvation of souls," one who (in her 
own characteristic phrase) " was dwelling in the cell of knowledge 
of self, in order better to know the goodness of God. M 

The book is concerned with the whole spiritual life of man, 
in the form of a prolonged dialogue, or series of dialogues, between 
the eternal Father and the impassioned human soul, who is here 
clearly Catherine herself It seems to be properly divided into six 
treatises or Trattati : an Introduction (cap. I to cap. 8), the Trattato 
della Discrezione (cap. 9 to cap. 64), the Trattato dell' Orazione (cap. 
65 to cap. 86), the Trattato delle Lagrime (cap. 87 to cap. 134), the 
Trattato della Divina Provvidenza (cap. 135 to cap. 153), and the 
Trattato deW Obbedienza (cap. 154 to cap. 167). 2 It opens with a 
striking passage on what we may call the essence of mysticism, 
the possibility of the union of the soul with God in love : — 

11 When a soul lifts herself up, athirst with very great desire 
for the honour of God and the salvation of souls, she exercises 

1 Legend, III, L 2 (§ 352). Cf. III. in. 1 (§§ 349, 350). In the Vatican 
MS., Ceo*. Barb, Let. 4063, the book is entitled simply : 4< II libro facto per divina 
revelacionc dc la vcnerabile ct admirabile verginc beata Kathcrina da Siena." 

* The arrangement I adopt is a compromise between that of the manuscripts and 
early editions of the Italian text and that given by Fra Raimondo in his Latin 
version — a compromise which, as far as making the Trattato deik Lagrime a 
separate treatise, seems justified by Catherine's own reference to it in Letter 154 
(63), as well as by internal evidence. 

354 









CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

herself for a while in habitual virtue* and dwells in the cell of 
knowledge of self, in order better to know the goodness of God ; 
for love follows knowledge, and, when she loves, she seeks to 
follow and to clothe herself with the truth. But in no way does the 
creature taste and become illumined by this truth as much as by 
means of humble and continuous prayer , based on knowledge of 
self and of God ; for prayer, exercising the soul in this way, unites 
her to God, as she follows the steps of Christ crucified ; and thus, 
by desire and affection and union of love, she is transformed into 
Him, This it seems that Christ meant when He said : If a man 
love M?, he will keep My words ; and again : He that loveth Me 
shall he loved of My Father \ and I will love him and will manifest 
Myself to him, and he will he one with Me and I with him. And in 
many places we find similar words, by which we can see that it is 
true that, by affection of love, the soul becomes another He," l 

The rest of the book is practically an expansion of the 
revelation that Catherine had in a vision f after receiving Holy 
Communion on a feast of the Blessed Virgin, in the autumn of 
the previous year ; a revelation which, in a more partial form, she 
had already set forth in a letter to Fra Raimondo. 2 It is, as it 
were, a gathering together of the spiritual teachings scattered 
through her letters. On the whole, it reads somewhat less 
ecstatically, as though written with more deliberation than the 
letters, and is in parts drawn out to considerable length, and 
sometimes moves slowly. The effect is that of a mysterious 
voice from the cloud, talking on in a great silence ; and the result 
is monotonous, because the listener's attention becomes over- 
strained. Here and there, it is almost a relief when the Divine 
Voice ceases, and Catherine herself takes up the word. At other 
times, however, we feel that we have almost passed behind the 
veil that shields the Holy of Holies, and that we are, in very 
truth, hearing Catherine's rendering into finite words of the 
ineffable things which she has learned by intuition in that half 
hour during which there is silence in Heaven. The importance of 



Cap. I, 



8 Letter zjz (90). 



355 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



th&-Ui<dig°M the history of Italian literature hasji&vjeri&ciLfuJJj 
realized. In a language which is singularly poor in mystical 
works (though so rich in almost every other field of thought), it 
stands with the Divhta Commedia as one of the two supreme 
attempts to express the eternal in the symbolis m of a d ay, to 
paint the union of the soul with the suprasensiEle while still 
imprisoned in the flesh. The whole of Catherine's life is the 
realization of the end of Dante's poem : " to remove those living 
in this life from the state of misery, and to lead them to the state 
of felicity M ; and the mysticism of Catherine's book is as practical 
and altruistic as that of Dante's, when he declares to Can Grande 
that the whole Commedia il was undertaken not for speculation, 
but for work. For albeit in some parts or passages it is treated 
in speculative fashion, this is not for the sake of speculation, but 
for the sake of work." * Thus Catherine, in the preliminary 
chapters of the Dialogo^ * e wishing more virilely to know and follow 
the truth, 11 makes her first petition to the eternal Father for herself, 
only because " the soul cannot perform any true service to her 
neighbour by teaching, example, or prayer, unless she first serves 
herself by acquiring and possessing virtue.*' By the infinite 
desire that proceeds from love, the soul can make reparation to 
God for her neighbour's sins, as well as for her own. Even as 
charity gives life to all the virtues, so all the vices have their root 
in self-love, and both are realized in action by means of others. 
* £ There can be no perfect virtue, none that bears fruit, unless it 
be exercised by means of our neighbour." 2 

For virtue to be perfect, it must be exercised with discretion, 
u which discretion is nought else than a true knowledge that the 
soul should have of herself and of Me, and in this knowledge 
it has its root." Discretion, which springs from charity and is 
nurtured in the soil of humility, should be the lamp of the whole 
spiritual life, directing all the powers of the soul to serve God 
and to love her neighbour, offering up the life of the body for 
the salvation of his soul, and her temporal substance for the 

1 Epist. X. 1 6. 

3 Dialog*, cap. i~cap. 8, cap. II. Cf. Letters 311 (103), 282 (39). 

356 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

welfare of his body. The face of the Churchy the Spouse of 
Christ, has grown like that of one smitten with leprosy, through 
the impurity, the self-love, the pride and avarice of her ministers, 
"those who feed at her breasts"; but by the prayers, desires, 
tears, and labours of God's servants, her beauty will be restored 
to her, for the humanity of the Word still stands as the bridge 
between earth and Heaven. 

This figure of the Word as the bridge from time to eternity, 
the road to which has been broken by the fall of Adam, is worked 
out at length, Catherine laying stress upon the doctrine that u the 
eternal Truth has created us without ourselves, but will not save 
us without ourselves/* The bridge has three steps or grades : 
the Feet that were nailed to the Cross ; the Side, that was pierced 
to reveal the ineffable love of the Heart ; the Mouth, where the 
bitterness of gall and vinegar is turned to peace. On the bridge 
(Catherine's Imagery suddenly changing form) is the garden of 
the Church, to minister the bread of life and the blood that is 
drink, in order that the pilgrims may not faint by the way. 
These three steps also represent the three powers of the soul : 
will, memory, and understanding ; as likewise the three states of 
the soul in God's service^ by which she passes from servile fear 
and mercenary obedience to true fidelity and friendship, and, 
lastly, to perfect filial love* 

" I require of you that you love Me with that love wherewith 
1 love you. This you cannot do to Me, because I loved you 
without being loved. All love that you bear Me you owe Me as 
a debt, and not as a free gift, because you are bound to give it 
Me ; and I love you freely, not in duty bound. You cannot, 
then, render to Me the love that I require of you ; and, therefore, 
have I set you in the midst of others, in order that you may do to 
them what you cannot do to Me ; that is, love them freely and 
without reserve, and without expecting any return from it ; and 
then I consider done to Me whatever you do to them. So this 
love must be flawless, and you must love them with the love 
wherewith you love Me. And knowest thou how he who loves 
with spiritual love perceives that he is not perfect ? If he feels 

357 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



pain and affliction when it does not seem to him that the creature 
whom he loves corresponds to his love, and he deems that he is 
not loved as much as he thinks he loves ; or when he is deprived 
of the consolation of familiar intercourse with that creature, or 
sees another loved more than himself* In this, and in many other 
things, he will be able to perceive that this love towards Me and 
his neighbour is still imperfect, and that he has drunk from this 
vessel outside the fountain-head, albeit he first drew this love 
from Me. But because his love for Me is still imperfect, 
therefore he shows it imperfect towards the one whom he loves 
with spiritual love. All cdmcs from the root of spiritual self-love 
not being entirely plucked out from his heart. And thus I often 
permit a soul to love in this wise, in order that she may know 
herself and her own imperfection. I withdraw Me from her 
in feeling, in order that she may enclose herself in the cell of self- 
knowledge, where she may acquire all perfectness ; and then I 
return to her with more light and more knowledge of My truth, 
so that she may deem it a grace to be able to slay her own will 
for My sake, and never cease from watering her vineyard, and 
plucking out the thorns of evil thoughts, and setting therein the 
stones of virtues established in the blood of Christ crucified, which 
she has found in going across the bridge of My only-begotten 
Son." i 

To this state of perfection in love, the soul comes by 
perseverance in holy prayer, offered up continually in the house 
of knowledge of self and of God, inebriated with the blood, clad 
in the fire of divine charity, fed on the sacramental food. Vocal 
prayer is but the preparation for mental prayer, in which God 
visits the soul, and the affection of charity is in itself a perpetual 
prayer. Souls that love God less for His own sake than for the 
consolation that they find in Htm are easily deceived. When 
that consolation fails them, they think they offend God ; and, for 
fear of losing their own peace, they do not succour their neighbour 
in his need, not realizing that " every vocal or mental exercise is 
ordained by Me, that the soul may practise it to come to perfect 

1 Cap. 64. 

358 




CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

charity towards Me and towards her neighbour, and to preserve 
her in that charity/* * Such souls are deluded by spiritual self- 
love, and are easily deceived by false visions that come from 
the deviL But the soul who has attained to perfect love, and who 
truly knows herself, does not consider the gifts and graces of her 
divine Friend, but the charity with which He gives them. With- 
out leaving the cell of self-knowledge, she goes forth in God's 
name* prepared to endure sufferings, and to put into practice for 
the service of her neighbour the virtues that she has conceived in 
her mystical habitation. Thus the soul attains a fourth state, of 
perfect union in God : M for there is no love of Me without love 
of man , and no love of man without love of Me, for the one love 
cannot be separated from the other." 2 

In this state of perfect union, the Saints receive such strength 
that they not merely bear with patience, but long with panting 
desire to endure suffering for the glory of God's name. With 
St. Paul, such as these bear in their bodies the marks of Christ : 
" that is, the crucified love that they have glows out in their 
bodies, and they reveal it by despising themselves, and by 
delighting in insults, enduring troubles and pains from whatever 
side and4n whatever way I concede them/' Perfectly dead to 
their own will, they are never deprived of the presence of God 
even in feeling : u I continually reside by grace and by feeling in 
their souls ; and whenever they wish to unite their mind with Me 
through affection of love, they can do so ; for their desire has 
attained to such complete union, through love's affection, that 
nothing can separate them from Me." 3 But although such souls 
ever possess God by grace, and realize His presence in feeling, 
they cannot be uninterruptedly united to Him as long as they 
are fettered to the body : " For, when such souls rise up 
with panting desire, they run with virtue along the bridge of 
the doctrine of Christ crucified, and reach the gate ; lifting up 
their minds to Me, bathed and inebriated with blood, inflamed 
w r ith the fire of love, they taste in Me the eternal Godhead, which 
is to them a sea of peace, with which the soul becomes so united 
1 Cap. 69. 2 Cap. 74.. * Cap. 78. 

359 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



that the mind has no other movement save in Me. Although 
mortal, she tastes the bliss of the immortals, and, although still with 
the weight of the body, she receives the joy of the spirit ; whereby 
ofttimes the body is lifted up from the earth through the perfect 
union that the soul has made m Me, as though the heavy body 
had become light. It is not that its weight is taken from it ; but, 
because the union which the soul has made in Me is more perfect 
than that between her and the body, therefore the strength of the 
spirit united to Me raises the weight of the body from the earth, 
and the body remains motionless, all fordone by the affection of 
the soul, so that (as thou mayest remember to have heard from 
some creatures) it would not be possible to live, unless My good- 
ness girded it round with strength. Therefore, I would have thee 
know that it is a greater miracle to see the soul not leave the body 
in this union, than to see many dead bodies raised up again. 
And for this, I, for a while, withdraw this union, making her 
return to the vessel of her body ; that is, the bodily sense, which 
was totally alienated through the affection of the soul, return to 
consciousness ; because it is not that the soul departs from the 
body, for this she does not, save by means of death, but the 
faculties depart because of the affection of the soul which is united 
to Me by love. Then is the memory found full of nought but 
Me ; the understanding uplifted to contemplate My truth as 
object ; the will, that follows the understanding, loves and unites 
itself to what the eye of the understanding sees. All these powers 
being gathered and united together, immersed and drowned in 
Me, the body loses its feeling ; the eye, seeing, sees not ; the ear, 
hearing, hears not ; the tongue, speaking, speaks not, save as some- 
times I permit to relieve the abundance of the heart, and for the 
glory and praise of My name ; the hand, touching, does not 
touch ; the ftQt 7 going, do not go. All the members are bound 
and occupied by the bond and by the consciousness of love. By 
this bond they are subjected to reason and united with the affection 
of the soul, and, as it were against their own nature, all cry 
together to Me, the eternal Father, that they would fain be separ- 
ated from the soul and the soul from the body ; and, therefore, 

360 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

they cry out before Me, with the glorious Paul : O wretched man 
that I am / Who shall deliver me from the body of this death ? ,f * 

Such souls yearn to be delivered from the body, but are 
perfectly resigned to the will of God, rejoicing in being allowed 
to suffer for His honour. Their union with Him, thus tempor- 
arily interrupted, is ever renewed with increased intimacy : M I 
ever return with increase of grace and with more perfect union, 
ever revealing Myself to them anew, with a more lofty knowledge 
of My truth/' 2 It is for such souls as these, with their prayers 
and sweat and tears, to wash the face of Christ's Spouse, the 
Church : u for which reason I showed her to thee in the guise of 
a damosel, whose face was all made filthy, as though of one 
smitten with leprosy, by the sins of her ministers and of all 
the Christian community who feed at her breast," 

A frightful picture of the corruption of the clergy follows, in 
the Tratiato delle Lagrime y after Catherine has touched at some 
length upon ** the infinite variety of tears," and the way of coming 
to perfect purity. The dignity of the priesthood, and the 
ineffable mystery of the Sacrament which they have to administer, 
require a greater purity in the ministers of the Church than in 
any other creature. They are God's anointed, His Christs t with 
power over the Lord's sacramental body that even the Angels 
have not, and He considers all injuries done to them as inflicted 
upon Himself, as persecution of His blood. But, in contrast 
with Peter himself, Sylvester, Gregory, Augustine, Jerome, 
Thomas Aquinas, and the other holy ecclesiastics of olden time, 
we are shown the modern priests and prelates, whose lives are 
founded in self-love, and who perform the office of devils. 
Avarice, lust, and pride are the masters that they serve. The 
table of the Cross is deserted for the sake of the tavern ; the 



1 Cap. 79. In his Latin version, Fra Raimondo glosses : " Nota quod istc 
status est ilk, in quo erat ista benedicta virgo Catharina de Senis : ut oculi nostri 
vidcrunt apertissimc." 

2 This is worked out in cap. 83, cap, 84, of which the modern printed editions 
and translations contain only a mutilated version of what we find in the MSS, and 
in Fra Raimondo's Latin, 

361 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



poor arc left destitute, while the substance of the Church is 
squandered upon harlots. Nay, more, the leprosy of unnatural 
vice, the sin from which even the devils flee in horror because oi 
their angelical nature, has contaminated their minds and bodies* 
The priests celebrate Mass after a night of sin, and often their 
mistresses and children join the congregation ; others use the 
Blessed Sacrament of the altar to make love-charms to seduce the 
little sheep of their flock, or persuade them to commit fornication 
under pretext of delivering them from diabolical possession. Some 
priests, realizing their own sinful state sufficiently to fear God's 
judgments, only pretend to consecrate when they say Mass, and 
thereby lead the people into idolatry by making them worship as 
the body of Christ what is no more than a piece of bread. The 
prelates connive at infamous monks corrupting the nuns in the 
monasteries under their charge* Ministers of the Church have 
become usurers ; benefices and prelacies are bought and sold, 
while the poor are left to die of hunger. Spiritual things are 
abandoned, while the rulers of the Church usurp temporal power 
and secular government. 1 It is only possible here to touch very 
slightly upon the contents of t hese terribl e chapters ; but the 
student of the religious life of the fourteenth century is compelled 
to face the fact that in them we have the testimony of Boccaccio's 
Decameron confirmed by the burning words of a great saint, who 
does not shrink from putting them into the mouth of God 
Himself, 

From this Catherine turns to the contemplation of the Divine 
Providence, shown in the creation of man in God's image and like- 
ness, with memory, understanding, and will, for the Beatific Vision ; 
in his redemption by means of the Incarnation ; and in the 
institution of the Blessed Sacrament for his spiritual sustenance. 
As an instance of this Providence, in a particular case, we have a 
somewhat mysterious allusion to one whose soul was saved by a 

1 Cap, 121-cap, 130. Cf. Caesarius Hcistcrbacensis, Dtalogus miraculorum 
(ed. Strange, Cologne, 1851), dist. IX. cap. 6 ; Revehtiona 5. BirgitUe, L 49, 
IV, 133, An equally appalling picture is given, some years later, by Nicolas de 
Clcmangcs, in his Dt ru'ina Ea/tsiae, cap. 15-cap. 23 {Qpir# % Leyden, 1 Si $). 

362 



CATHERINE'S LITERARY WORK 



violent death, " I would have thee know that, to save him from 
the eternal damnation which thou seest he had incurred, I allowed 
this to happen, in order that by his blood he might have life in 
the blood of My only-begotten Son. For I had not forgotten 
the reverence and love which he bore to Mary, the most sweet 
Mother of My only-begotten Son, to whom it is given by My 
goodness , for reverence of the Word, that whoso holds her in 
due reverence, be he a just man or a sinner, shall never be taken 
or devoured by the infernal demon. She is as a bait set by 
My goodness to take all rational creatures/ 1 1 Catherine's own 
miraculous communions, when her Divine Bridegroom intervened 
to give her the food of Angels which the priests would fain have 
denied her, show God's providential dealings with souls that 
hunger for the sweet Sacrament^ There are three states of the 
human soul ; those of mortal sin, imperfect love, and perfect 
charity ; and in each God's Providence acts in diverse ways to 
draw her to Himself. 

One of the means He uses to draw the imperfect from their 
imperfection is an absorbing devotion for a fellow-creature, the 
amor amicitiae of which the Angelical Doctor writes, the kind of love 
of which Dante had given the supreme exposition in the Vita 
Nuova. By such a love, the soul is exercised in virtue and raised 
above herself ; the heart is stripped of all sensitive passion and 
disordered affection. By the perfection of this love can be 
measured the perfection of the soul's love of God. When one 
who loves in this way sees himself deprived of the delight he used 
to have in familiar intercourse with the person loved, and sees 
that person now more intimately associated with another than with 
himself, the very pain that he feels will teach him to know him- 
self, and will spur him on to hatred of his own selfishness and to 
love of virtue. He will humbly repute himself unworthy of the 
desired consolation, and will be assured that the virtue, for which 

1 Cap. 1 39. Cf. the salvation of Buonconte da Montefehro, Purg. v. 100-107. 
Catherine alludes to this case in similar words in Letter 272 (90). Probably, 
either Ntccolo di Toldo or Trincio Trinci is the person meant. 

2 Cap. 142. Cf. Legenda, II. xii. 4-14 (§§ 316-324). 

363 




SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

he should chiefly love that person, is not diminished in his rej 
This love will have taught him to desire to bear all suffering for 
the glory of God* 1 For tribulation is the test of true charity, 
and, with those who have come to the perfect state, God uses the 
means of suffering and persecution to preserve and augment their 
perfection. Goaded on by their hunger for the salvation of souls, 
forgetting themselves, they knock, night and day, at the gate of 
Divine Mercy. For the more man loses himself, the more he 
finds Go d, This truth they read in the sweet and glorious book 
of the Word, and bring forth the fr uit of patien ce. Although, 
with St, Paul, they have received the doctrine of truth in the abyss 
of the Godhead, they have likewise received the thorn in the 
flesh, to keep them in self-knowledge and humility, and to make 
them compassionate towards the weaknesses and frailty of others. 
The anguish that they endure, in seeing the sins that are done 
against God, purges them from all personal sorrows ; and God 
suffers Himself to be constrained by their panting desires, to have 
mercy upon the world, and by their endurance to reform His 
Church: " Verily, such as these can be called another Christ cruci- 
fied, My only-begotten Son ; for they have taken upon themselves 
the office of Him who came as mediator to end the war, and to 
reconcile man with Me in peace, by much endurance even unto 
the shameful death of the Cross/' 2 

The whole being of such a saint is attuned to mystical music, 
and has become one sweet harmony, in which all the powers 
of the soul and all the members of the body play their parts. 
This spiritual melody was first heard from the Cross, and those 
that followed have learnt it from that Master. rt My infinite 
Providence has given them the instruments, and has shown them 
the way in which to play upon them. And whatever 1 give and 
permit in this life is to enable them to increase the power of 
these instruments ; if they will only know it, and not obscure the 
light by which they see, with the cloud of self-love and their own 
pleasure and opinion,** 3 Inebriated with trust in the Divine 
Providence, these souls embrace the doctrine of voluntary poverty, 
1 Cap. 144. 2 Cap. 145, cap. 146, 3 Cap. 147. 

364 







CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 



choosing Lady Poverty, the Queen, as their bride, with whom 
they become mistresses of all spiritual wealth \ — 

" Then that soul, as though inebriated and enamoured of 
true and holy Poverty, passing out of herself into the supreme 
eternal Greatness, and transformed in the abyss of the sovereign 
inestimable Providence (in such wise that, while still in the vessel 
of the body, she saw herself out of the body by the over- 
shadowing and rapture of the fire of Its charity), kept the eye of 
her understanding fixed upon the Divine Majesty, saying to the 
supreme and eternal Father : * O eternal Father, O fire and 
abyss of Charity, O eternal Beauty, O eternal Goodness, O eternal 
Clemency, O hope and refuge of sinners, O inestimable Bounty, 
O eternal and infinite Bliss ! Thou that art mad with love, hast 
Thou any need of Thy creature ? Yea, it seemeth to me that 
Thou dost act as though Thou couldst not live without her, 
albeit Thou art the life from which all things have life and 
without which nothing lives. Why, then, art Thou thus mad ? 
Thou art mad, because Thou art enamoured of what Thou hast 
made. Within Thyself Thou didst take delight in her, and, as 
drunk with desire of her salvation, Thou dost seek her when she 
flies from Thee ; she shuns Thee, and Thou drawest near her. 
Nearer to her Thou couldst not come than to clothe Thyself 
with her humanity. What then shall I say ? I will do as one 
that is tongue-tied, and say : Ah* Ah ; for there is nought else I 
can say, since finite speech cannot express the affection of the soul 
which desires Thee infinitely. Methinks I can say with Paul : 
Eye hath not seen y nor ear heard y neither have entered into the heart 
of man y the things which I have beheld. I have seen the hidden 
things of God. My soul, thou hast tasted and seen the abyss 
of the sovereign and eternal Providence/" 1 

Obedience is the special virtue that ruled Catherine's spiritual 
life, even as pove rty had informed that of St. Francis and the 
re alization oF]usticg had been the inspiration of that of Dante. 

1 Cap, 153. Catherine's treatment of holy Poverty, cap. 151, is thoroughly 
Franciscan, It is curious to notice how loosely she often quotes the Scriptures ; 
Fra Raimondo usually corrects her in his Latin version. 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



She treats it as the key which the Father put into the hand of 
the Word to unlock the gate of eternal life, and which the Word 
left with His vicar at the Ascension, All the faith is founded 
upon it. Each soul receives it into her hand at baptism, and 
must fasten it, with the cord of detachment, to the girdle of 
resignation to the will of God. Ljjc^jxn'crty, obedience is 1 
bride of souls, a queen enthroned above the tempests of the* 
world. Besides the general obedience to which all are bound, 
there is the special obedien ce of the religiou s life, shown in its 
perfection in the ideals with which Benedict, FrancisTand Dominic 
founded their orders. The chapter dealing with the Franciscans 
and Dominicans, the sublime ideals of their two patriarchs who 
based their rules on poverty and learning, respectively, and the 
degeneration of their followers, is thoroughly Dantesque in spirit 
and in expression* Catherine has, however, worse things to 
record against the friars of her own order than those which the 
divine poet puts upon the lips of the Angelical Doctor ; even the 
vow of chastity is continually broken, and the light of science 
perverted by them to darkness. The days of Thomas Aquinas, 
whom Catherine ever names with profound admiration and 
marked personal love (he was one of the saints with whom she 
used to speak in her visions), and of Peter Martyr, whose career 
appealed to the sterner side of her character, have passed away. 1 
The resemblance at times between Catherine's phraseology, as 
well as her thought, in the Dialogo as in the Letters, with that 
of Dante, is not likely to be entirely fortuitous. Although she 
never mentions the poet, and assuredly had never read the 
Divina Comtnedia* she must frequently have heard his lines quoted 
by her followers. Neri di Landoccio, at least, appears to have 

1 Cap. 158. Cf. Dante, Par. xi., xii., and xxii. 73-93- The encyclical 
letters issued by Fra Elias of Toulouse, as master-general of the order, in 1 368, 
1370, and 1376, strikingly confirm Catherine's testimony as to the corruption an d 
degeneracy of the Dominicans at this time, " We have come to such a pass/* Ke 
had written in I 376, "that whoso cares for the ceremonies of the Church ii 
pointed out with the finger, and whoso keeps the rules of the order is reckoned by 
the others as of singular life.** See Monnmenta ordinis Fratrum Prtcdkatorum 
Ahtorica, torn, v. pp. 306-312. 

366 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

been a Dante student. 1 It would be pleasant to think of such 
passages as the mystical espousals of St. Francis with Poverty, the 
praises of St. Dominic, or St. Bernard's invocation to the Blessed 
Virgin, being read aloud in Catherine's circle, and Saint and 
secretaries alike being fired by the music of him who had fought 
the same battle for righteousness more than half a century before. 

From the consideration of her own order , Catherine turns to 
the religious life in general, the excellence of its ideals, the 
disastrous results when these are corrupted or neglected. The 
perfect religious, il vero obbediente y he who has humbled himself 
like a little child to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, is con- 
trasted with the unfaithful and disobedient monk or friar, M who 
stays in the bark of his order with such great pain to himself and 
to others, that in this life he tastes the pledge of hell/* Midway 
between the two types is that of the average religious, neither 
perfect nor corrupt, but lukewarm in his profession, ever in 
danger of falling, but still with the power of joining the truly 
obedient in their holy race. After a glowing eulogy of the 
virtue of obedience, illustrated by the miracles that the saints of 
old have wrought by its power, and a recapitulation of the whole 
book, Catherine ends with the impassioned eloquence of what 
may be called her universal prayer : — 

** Thanks, thanks be to Thee, eternal Father, for Thou hast 
not despised me, Thy creature, nor turned Thy face from me, nor 
contemned my desires. Thou that art light, hast not considered 
my darkness ; Thou that art life, hast not considered my death ; 
nor hast Thou, the physician, turned from my grievous maladies. 
Thou art eternal purity, and I am full of the mire of many 
miseries ; Thou art infinite, and 1 am finite ; Thou art wisdom, 
and I am foolishness ; for all these and other infinite evils and 
defects that are in me, Thy wisdom, Thy goodness, Thy clemency, 
and Thy infinite blessedness has not despised me ; but in Thy 
light Thou hast given me light, in Thy wisdom 1 have known 
the truth, in Thy clemency I have found Thy charity and the 

1 Cf. Lettere del dlscep^tt f 18. But Capccclatro, pp. 343, 344, following 
Ignario Cantu, much overstates Catherine's possible knowledge of Dante. 

367 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



love of my neighbour. Who has constrained Thee to this? 
Not my virtues, but Thy charity alone. May this same love 
constrain Thee to illumine the eye of my understanding in the 
light of faith , in order that I may know and comprehend the 
truth Thou hast revealed to me. Grant that my memory may 
be capable of retaining Thy benefits, that my will may burn in 
the fire of Thy charity, and that fire make my body pour forth 
blood ; so that with that blood, given for love of the blood, and 
with the key of obedience, I may unlock the gate of Heaven, 
This same grace I crave of Thee for every rational creature, in 
general and in particular, and for the mystical body of Holy 
Church, I confess and do not deny that Thou didst love me 
before I was, and that Thou dost love me ineffably, as mad with 
love for Thy creature. 

" O eternal Trinity, O Godhead, Thou that, by Thy divine 
nature, didst make the price of the blood of Thy Son avail ! 
Thou, eternal Trinity, art a sea so deep, that the more I enter 
therein, the more I find, and, the more 1 find, the more I seek of 
Thee. Thou art the food that never satiates ; for, when the soul 
is satiated in Thine abyss, it is not satiated, but it ever continues 
to hunger and thirst for Thee, eternal Trinity, desiring to behold 
Thee with the light of Thy light. As the hart panteth after the 
water brooks y so does my soul desire to issue from the prison of 
the darksome body, and behold Thee in truth. O how long 
shall Thy face be hidden from my eyes ? O eternal Trinity, fire 
and abyss of charity, dissolve henceforth the cloud of my body ; 
the knowledge that Thou hast given me of Thyself, in Thy 
truth, constrains me to desire to leave the heaviness of my body, 
and to give my life for the glory and praise of Thy name ; 
because I have tasted and seen, with the light of the under- 
standing in Thy light, Thy abyss, eternal Trinity, and the beauty 
of Thy creature. 
am Thy image 

power, and of Thy wisdom in the understanding, which wisdom 
is assigned to Thy only-begotten Son ; the Holy Spirit, which 
proceeds from Thee and from Thy Son, has given me the will, 



r light, Thy abyss, eternal Trinity, and the beauty 

e. Contemplating myself in Thee, I sec that I 

; Thou, eternal Father, hast given me of Thy 



368 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 



whereby I am made able to love. Thou, eternal Trinity, art the 
Maker, and I the work of Thy hands ; I have known, by Thy 
recreation of me in the blood of Thy Son, that Thou art 
enamoured of the beauty of what Thou hast made. 

u O abyss, O eternal Godhead, O deep sea ! And what more 
couldest Thou give me, than give Thyself? Thou art fire that 
ever burnest and art not consumed ; Thou art fire that con- 
sum est all self-love in the soul by Thy heat ; Thou art fire 
that destroyest all coldness ; Thou dost illumine, and by Thy 
light Thou hast made me know Thy truth. Thou art that light 
above all light, with which light Thou givest supernatural light 
to the eye of the understanding, in such abundance and perfection 
that Thou dost clarify the light of faith ; in which faith I see that 
my soul has life, and in this light she receives Thee, the Light. In 
the light of faith, 1 acquire wisdom, in the wisdom of the Word, 
Thy Son. In the light of faith, I am strong, constant, and 
persevering. In the light of faith, I hope ; it will not let me 
faint on the road. This light teaches me the way, and, without 
this light, I should walk in darkness ; and, therefore, I besought 
Thee, eternal Father, to illumine me with the light of most holy 
faith* Verily, this light is a sea, for it nourishes the soul in Thee, 
sea of peace, eternal Trinity ; the water of this sea is never stormy, 
and, therefore, the soul has no fear, because she knows the truth ; 
it is ever clear and reveals things hidden ; and thus, where the 
most abundant light of Thy faith abounds, it, as it were, makes 
the soul certain about what she believes. It is a mirror, as Thou, 
eternal Trinity, dost make me know; for, gazing into this mirror, 
holding it with the hand of love, it shows me myself in Thee, 
who am Thy creature, and Thee in me, by the union which Thou 
didst make of the Godhead with our humanity. In this light 
it reveals Thee to me, and I know Thee, supreme and infinite 
Good, good above all good, blissful good, incomprehensible good, 
inestimable good ; Beauty above all beauty ; Wisdom above all 
wisdom. Yea, Thou art very Wisdom ; Thou, the food of 
Angels, hast given Thyself to men with fire of love ; Thou, 
the raiment that coverest up my nakedness, dost feed the 



*4 



3 6 9 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



famished in Thy sweetness ; sweet Thou art, without 

bitterness. 

u O eternal Trinity, in Thy light which Thou didst give 
reviving it with the light of most holy faith, I have known \ 
Thou makest it plain to me by many and wondrous revekric 
the way of great perfection, in order that I may serve Thee v 
light and not with darkness ; that I may be a mirror of g< 
and holy life, and thus rise up from my own miserable life ; J 
through my sins, 1 have ever served Thee in darkness ; I 4 h 
not known Thy truth, and, therefore, have not loved it V 
did I not know Thee ? Because I did not see Thee with 
glorious light of most holy faith, for the cloud of self-l< 
darkened the eye of my understanding ; and Thou, eta 
Trinity, with Thy light didst dissolve that darkness. A 
who shall reach Thy height, to render Thee thanks for 
measureless a gift, and such great benefits as Thou hast gran 
me, the doctrine of truth which Thou hast given me, which i 
special grace beyond the general grace which Thou dost give 
other creatures ! Thou wishest to condescend to my necessi 
and to that of other creatures who will look into it as intc 
mirror. Do Thou, Lord, answer for me ; Thou Thyself h 
given, do Thou Thyself answer and make satisfaction, infusi 
a light of grace into me, in order that with that light I may g 
Thee thanks. Robe, robe me with Thyself, eternal Truth, 
that I may run this mortal life with true obedience and with 1 
light of most holy faith, with which light it seemeth that Th 
dost inebriate my soul anew," l 

At the end of one of her longest letters to Fra Raimoru 
the letter that reads almost like a first sketch of the Dia/ogo f a 
contains the vision which was to be the starting-point of tl 
book, Catherine claims to have learnt to write by a miracle, I 
power having suddenly come to her by a kind of spiritual 
tuition, while staying at the Rocca d 1 Orcia in the autumn of 13' 
"This letter," she says, "and another that I sent you, I hs 

1 Cap. 167, corrected by the Vatican MS., C^. Barb. Lat. 4063, with wh 
Fra Raimondo substantially agrees. 

37 o 




CATHERINE'S LITERARY WORK 

written with my own hand on the I sola della Rocca, with many 
sighs and abundance of tears, so that the eye, though seeing, 
saw not ; but I was full of wonder at myself and at the goodness 
of God, considering His mercy towards the creatures that possess 
reason, and His providence, which so abounded towards me that, 
for my refreshment, since I was deprived of this consolation 
which through my ignorance I did not possess, He had given 
me and prepared me to receive the faculty of writing ; in order 
that, descending from the height, I might have somewhat where- 
with to relieve my heart, that it might not burst, since He does 
not wish to draw me yet from this darksome life. In a wondrous 
way, He set it for me in my mind, even as the master does to the 
child when he gives him the copy* Thus, as soon as you had 
left me, with the glorious evangelist John and Thomas of Aquino, 
I began to learn in my sleep. Forgive me for writing too much, 
for my hands and my tongue are in tune with my heart. * l 

This, however, was not the first letter that Catherine thus 
wrote. We learn from Fra Tommaso Caffarint that, when she 
" rose from prayer with the desire of writing," she wrote a letter 
to Stefano Maconi with her own hand, at the end of which she 
said : u Know, my dearest son, that this is the first letter that 
I have ever written.." He adds, on Stefano's authority, that she 
afterwards often wrote her own letters, as also certain pages of the 
DiakgOy and tells us elsewhere that the two wonderful epistles 
to Fra Raimondo at the end of her life, in which she takes leave 
of him and of the world, were also written by her own hand. 2 
But, as already stated, at the present day, w ith six exceptions , we 
possess only copies ; and even these six originals were evidently 

1 Letter 272 (90}. Cf. Letter 119 {178), to Alcssa. It is uncertain whether 
the other letter to which Catherine refers is that numbered 267 (91), as seems 
most probable, if it is one of those preserved to us ; Augusta Dranc, by some 
inexplicable error, identifies it with Letter 226 (89), which was obviously written 
to Ratmondo at Avignon in the previous ycarT 

2 $uj>j>femffttum f Pars I. tract, i. ad fin em (ff 9-10 in the Casanatcnse MS,), 
Pan III, tract, i. (f. 122); Processus, col. 1 279. Unless this passage is one of the lost 
postscripts to the letters we possess, the letter to Stefano Maconi has not been 
preserved. 

371 



lictation 

Single word written In Cathe rine^ own hand has been preserve,!. 
Catherine^ earliest letter s were written for her by her women 
companions, Alessa, Cecca, and occasionally Giovanna Pazzi ; as 
also were probably the more purely domestic of her later ones, 
and those addressed particularly to women. Afterwards, Crista- 
fano Guidini and Gherardo Buonconti seem occasionally to have 
written at her dictation ; but, during the greater part of her; 
political activity, she had three regular secretaries , the three young 
nobles whom we have already so often met : Neri di Landoccio 
Pagliaresi, Stefano di Corrado Maconi, and Francesco di Messer 
Vanni Malavolti. Francesco Malavolti has left us a delight ful 
picture of Catherine s method of composition aFthis time. We 
see her dictating simultaneously to these three young men, three 
letters : one to Pope Gregory, another to Bernabo Visconti, the 
third to a certain great nobleman whose name Francesco does not 
remember. She dictates now to one, now to another ; at times 
with her face covered by her hands or veil, as though absorbed 
in thought, at others with clasped hands and head raised up to 
Heaven ; at intervals she seems rapt in ecstasy, but, nevertheless, 
goes on continuously speaking. Then, suddenly, all three stop 
writing, look puzzled, and appeal to her for aid. They have all 
taken down the same sentence, but for which of them was it 
meant ? Catherine smilingly assures them that there is no cause 
for concern : " Dearest sons, do not trouble, for you have done 
this by the work of the Holy Spirit ; when the letters are finished, 
we shall see how these words fit in with our intention, and then 
arrange what had best be done/" And, of course, Francesco 
tells us that, though the three letters were to such different people 
and included various matters, the words in dispute were found to 
prove essential to all the three, 1 Fra Raimondo tells us that on 
these occasions she dictated the letters rapidly and continuously, 

1 Contestatio Francisd de Mafovottis, cap. vii, (Casanatcnsc MS., pp. 460, 461), 
It is impossible now to identify these letters, as that to Bernabo Visconti is deafly 
not the one still preserved to us, which contains no passage common 10 any of 
Catherine's letters to Gregory, 

372 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 



without even the smallest pause for thought, as though she were 
reading all she said from a book placed in front of her. 1 To ^y 
these three was added, in 1378, the young Florentine, Ba rduc cio 
jdiPjeroCanigiani, who accompanied her back from Florence 
to Siena, and never left her until the end. During the last 
months of her life, while they were in Rome, he seems to have 
been her only regular secretary. At least five of the six letters 
of which the originals still exist were written by his hand. 

Nearly four hundred of Catherine's letters have been pre- 
served to us* It is easier to speak of their literary importance 
and their historical interest than of their spiritual fragrance, 
as of lilies of the valley plucked in some shaded world-forsaken 
garden, imbued with an unearthly, mystical beauty, as grown under 
suns that rose from a suprasensible orient. They are written to 
men and women in every condition of life and every grade of 
society. Her correspondents include a Romagnole mendicant in 
Florence, a Jewish usurer in Padua, no less than two Sovereign 
Pontiffs and three Kings. Leaders of armies, rulers of Italian 
republics, receive her burning words and bow to her inspired 
will, no less than private citizens seeking her counsel in the spiritual 
life, or simple monks and hermits in their cells striving to find 
the way of perfection. She can warn a Queen : " instead of a 
woman, you have become the servant and slave of nothingness, 
making yourself the subject of lies and of the demon who is 
their father"; 2 while she bids the wife of a tailor: " Clothe 
yourself in the royal virtues. 11 3 Her wonderful, all-embracing and 
intuitive sympathy knows no barriers, but penetrates into the 
house of shame as well as into the monastery. While she writes 
to Suora Eugenia, her niece in Santa Agnese at Montepulciano, 
u with desire of seeing thee taste the food of Angels," the 
mystical food, which is " the desire of God, whom the desire that 
is in the soul's affection draws to herself, so that the two become 
one " ; 4 to the Abbess and nuns of San Piero a Monticelli, 
IC with desire of seeing you true servants and brides of Christ 

1 Legend^ Prologue I. (§ 7). s Letter 317 (316). 

a Letter 251 (362), * Letter z6 (159). 

373 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



crucified,*' a letter full of the same spiritual poetry that im- 
pregnates the story of Piccarda in Dante's Paradiso ; l or to the 
Dominican nun of Orvieto, Suora Daniella, "who, not being able 
to continue her great works of penance, had come into great 
affliction," on the holy virtue of discretion ; 2 she can address to 
a harlot in Perugia, u with desire of seeing thee partake of the 
blood of the Son of God," a letter as outspoken as tender in 
expression, beginning and ending in the name of Maria dolce 
Madre? 

Some of these letters are purely mystical, ecstatic outpourings 
of Catherine's heart, the translation into ordinary speech of the 
conversation of Angels, overheard in suprasensible regions. 
Such are pre-eminently the letters to Fra Raimondo, and, in a 
lesser degree, that to Suora Bartolommea della Seta, a nun of 
Pisa* 4 Others are a nearer approach to familiar domestic corre- 
spondence, in which the daily needs of life become ennobled, and 
even the innocent japery of her friends and followers is not 
neglected* Among these are the letters to Stefano Maconi ; but 
even more delightful examples are to be found in those sent to 
Francesco di Pippino and Moiina Agnese, so sadly curtailed and 
mutilated in all the printed editions, letters as full of high 
spirituality as of homely common-sense. 5 Some are written as 
guides to men and women through all the snares of the world or 
the trials of the religious vocation. Conspicuous among the 
latter are the numerous letters Catherine addressed to Carthusians 
and monks of Monte QHveto, towards which orders, next to her 
own beloved Dominicans, she evidently felt the greatest affection. 6 
Among the former, we have those to Andrea di Vanni, the 

1 Letter 79 {149). * Letter 213 (163). 

* Letter 276 {373). For another instance of Catherine's large-hearted outlook 
upon questions of this kind, sec Letter 8 (82), on the admission of a youth of 
illegitimate birth into the Olivet an order. 

4 Letter 221 (152), 

* See Appendix, Letters V, and VI., which, however, are in a different key. 

6 For Catherine's relations with the Olivctani, cf. Placido M. Lugano, Origin* 
e P Timor Ji dell* Or dine di Montofiveto, pp. 1 57-164. 

374 






CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

painter, in his capacity of Captain of the People, and to Lorenzo 
del Pino, the learned decretalist of Bologna ; l and, above all, the 
letters to her Florentine friends and associates, the Sodcrini and 
the Canigiani, who had suffered so heavily in what she deemed 
the cause of righteousness, " It seems to me," she wrote to 
Niccolo Soderini, when a new sentence of banishment fell upon 
him, "that the divine sweet goodness of God has now anew 
shown you a most special love, in having made you follow the 
teaching and the lives of the saints ; He has made you worthy 
to endure for the glory and praise of His name, in order to render 
you the fruit in life eternal, instead of in this life/* 2 Two of 
Catherine*s letters to Piero Canigiani have been preserved, one 
of them hitherto unpublished. The first, written " with desire of 
seeing you founded in true and most perfect love, in order that 
you may be robed in the bridal garment of perfect charity/* 
contrasts the love of self with the divine love : u that true and 
most perfect love, which is so full of delight and sweetness that 
no misfortune can take that sweetness from it nor disturb it ; but 
misfortune only the more strengthens the mind, because it brings 
the soul nearer to her Creator/' 3 The second extols the "glorious 
virtue of perseverance/* and urges the Guelf politician to beware 
of getting involved in the toils of faction, but, like a true pilgrim, 
turn from the affairs of the world to seek his true home. 4 Those 
to Messer Ristoro, five in number, must be read in their entirety. 
As Augusta Drane truly observes, they " form a series by them- 
selves, and contain a body of instructions for the sanctification of 
persons living in the world, which for their prudence and practical 
wisdom have never been surpassed/* 

There are other letters, again, as we have seen, especially 
those to the Popes and great prelates, which confront the most 



» Letters 358 (212), 363 (213), 193 (224). 

3 Letter 297 (218). Cf. Letter 314 (343), to Costanza Soderini. Niccolo 
was put under bounds at Treviso, on August 27, 1378. Cf. Anomnw Fwinftm y 
p. 376. 

3 Letter 96 (233). * Appendix, Letter VII. 

375 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



arduous problems of Church and State, assailing the corruption 
of the times with a fervour and a fearlessness that Savonarola 
himself was not to surpass. One of Catherine's latest letters to 
a high ecclesiastical dignitary has peculiar interest, as connecting 
her with the subsequent development of the Schism ; it is 
addressed to Angelo Correr, newly appointed by Urban to the 
Castello bishopric of Venice, u with desire of seeing you illumined 
with a true and most perfect light," urging upon him the work 
of reformation ; for, otherwise, " you would be verily a demon, 
because you would be abandoning the will of God, and conforming 
yourself with that of the devil." * How Angelo Correr followed 
this light was soon to be seen. 

Catherine thus stands with Petrarca as the second great letter- 
writer of the fourteenth century. It is noteworthy that, although 
the dates of their correspondence overlap (it seems to me most 
probable that the Saint began^writing .kttcrsLUi. J J 70, the J 
of her entry into public life, although the majority of those that 
have been preserved date from 1376 to 1379), and they were 
to some extent battling in the same cause, they had, with the 
exception of Charles V of France, only two correspondents in 
common ; the physician, Francesco di Bartolommeo Casini, and 
the Augustinian friar, Bonaventura Badoara, the " Cardinal of 
Padua. 11 2 In Petrarca' s epistles to Urban V, we find something 
of the same spirit that inspired Catherine in writing to Gregory 
XI and Urban VI ; but, as a rule, their epistolary styles are 

poles asunder, Catherine's language is the purest Tuscan of the 

j 

1 Letter 341 (34). 

3 Petrarca, Rer, Sen tf Lib. XVI. ep. 2, 3, Lib. XL cp. 14; Catherine, 
Letters 244 (227), 334 (30). Fra Bonaventura had pronounced Petrarca's 
funeral oration at Arqui, in 1374. Catherine's letter to him as cardinal (of 
which there arc better texts, with additional matter, in the Casanatense MS. 292 
and the Palatine MS. 57) was sent to him when at Florence, in the spring of 
1379. Cf. Anontmo Fiorentind, pp. 393-395. He was instrumental in the 
restoration of Tabmonc to Siena, On June 10, 1385, he was murdered on 
the Ponte Sant* Angelo at Rome. The Bartolommeo della Pace and Giovanni 
da Parma, to whom Petrarca addressed letters (£/>. varie^ 50, 54, 61), are 
evidently not Catherine's correspondents of those names, 

376 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

golden age of the Italian vernacular, as far as possible removed 
from Petrarca's would-be Ciceronian Latin ; her eloquence is 
spontaneous and unsought ; at times, in her letters as in the 
Diakgo^ the richness of the writer's ideas is such that the rapidity 
and ardour of her thought outleaps the bounds of speech, metaphor 
follows close upon metaphor, one image has hardly been formed 
when another takes its place, until logic and grammar are swept 
away in the flood and torrent of impassioned words. 

The simple,, but profound philosophy underlying all Catherine's 
writings is the same that, put into practice, armed her to pass 
unsubdued and unshaken through the great game of the world. 

Love is the one supreme and all-important* all-embracing, 
all-enduring, limitless and boundless thing. In a famous passage 
of the PurgaioriOy Dante had shown how Creator and every 
creature is moved by love ; how, in rational beings, love is the 
seed of every virtue and of every vice, because love's natural 
tendency to good is the material upon which Free Will works 
for bliss or bane. 1 But Catherine goes a step further than this. 
Not only God, but man, in a sense, is love* u Think/ 1 she writes, 
" that the first raiment that we had was love ; for we are created 
to the image and likeness of God only by love, and, therefore, 
man cannot be without love, for he is made of nought else than 
very love ; for all that he has, according to the soul and according 
to the body, he has by love. The father and mother have given 
being to their child, that is, of the substance of their flesh (by 
means of the grace of God), only by love." 2 And in another 
place: " The soul cannot live without love, but must always 
love something, because she was created through love. Affection 
moves the understanding, as it were saying : I want to love, for 
the food wherewith I am fed is love. Then the understanding, 
feeling itself awakened by affection, rises as though it said : If 
thou wouldst love, I will give thee what thou canst love." 3 
Love nurtures the virtues like children at its breast ; it robes the 

1 Purg. xviL and xviii. 

3 Appendix, Letter I, Cf. Letter 196 (4). 

a Dtdiogo > cap. 5 1 , 

377 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



soul with its own beauty, because it transforms the beloved and 
makes her one with the lover. 1 " Love harmonizes the three 
powers of our soul, and binds them together. The will moves 
the understanding to see, when it wishes to love ; when the 
understanding perceives that the will would fain love, if it is a 
rational will, it places before it as object the ineffable love 
of the eternal Father, who has given us the Word, His own Son, 
and the obedience and humility of the Son, who endured torments, 
injuries, mockeries, and insults with meekness and with such 
great Jove. And thus the will, with ineffable love, follows what 
the eye of the understanding has beheld ; and, with its strong 
hand, it stores up in the memory the treasure that it draws from 
this love." 2 

Then, since the supreme act of Divine Love is seen in the 
Sacrifice of Calvary, and again in the mystical outpouring ot 
Pentecost, Love's symbols for Catherine arc blood and fire — but, 
above all,' blood, and sometimes this finds startling expression. 
She calls her letters written in blood. Those to whom they arc 
addressed are bidden drink blood, clothe themselves in blood, be 
transformed and set on fire with blood ; they are inebriated with 
blood ; their will, their understanding, and their memory are filled 
with blood ; they are drowned beneath the tide of blood. 
H Drown yourself in the blood of Christ crucified," she writes to 
Fra Raimondo, <c and bathe yourself in the blood ; inebriate 
yourself with the blood, satiate yourself with the blood, and 
clothe yourself with the blood. If you have been unfaithful, 
baptise yourself again in the blood ; if the demon has darkened 
the eye of your understanding, wash it with the blood ; if you 
have fallen into ingratitude for gifts which you have not acknow- 
ledged, be grateful in the blood ; if you have been an unworthy 
pastor, and without the rod of justice tempered with prudence 
and mercy, draw it from the blood ; with the eye of understand- 
ing, see it in the blood, and take it with the hand of love, and 
grasp it with panting desire. Dissolve your tepidity in the heat 
of the blood, and cast off your darkness in the light of the blood. 
1 Letter 108 {172). 2 Letter 95 (308). 

378 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

I wish to robe myself anew in blood, and to strip myself of every 
raiment which I have worn up to now. I crave for blood; in the 
blood have I satisfied and shall satisfy my soul, I was deceived 
when I sought her among creatures ; so am I fain, itt time of 
solicitude, to meet companions in the blood. Thus shall I find 
the blood and creatures, and I shall drink their affection and love 
in the blood/' l 

And Catherine carries this into actual life ; the blood that 
splashes the streets and palaces of the Italian cities in the fierce 
faction-fights, the blood that is poured out upon the scaffold at 
the Sienese place of execution, fires her imagination and seems 
shed by Love itself. The sight and smell of blood have no 
horror for her. We find the fullest realization of this in one of 
the most beautiful and famous of her letters, that to Fra Raimondo 
describing the end of the young noble of Perugia, Niccolo di 
Toldo, unjustly doo med t o diejby the government of Siena : — 

11 1 went to visit him of whom you know, whereby he received 
such great comfort and consolation that he confessed, and disposed 
himself right well ; and he made me promise by the love of God 
that, when the time of execution came, I would be with him ; 
and so 1 promised and did. Then in the morning, before the 
bell tolled, I went to him, and he received great consolation ; I 
brought him to hear Mass, and he received the holy Communion, 
which he had never received since the first. That will of his was 
harmonized with and subjected to the will of God, and there only 
remained a fear of not being strong at the last moment ; but the 
measureless and inflamed goodness of God forestalled him, 
endowing him with so much affection and love in the desire of 
God, that he could not stay without Him, and he said to me : 
'Stay with me, and do not abandon me, so shall I fare not other- 
wise than well, and I shall die content* ; and he leaned his head 
upon my breast. Then I exulted, and seemed to smell his blood, 
and mine too, which I desire to shed for the sweet Spouse Jesus, 
and, as the desire increased in my soul and I felt his fear, 1 said : 
'Take heart, sweet brother mine, for soon shall we come to the 

1 Letter 102 (93). 

379 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



nuptials ; thou wilt fare thither bathed in the sweet blood of the 
Son of God, with the sweet name of Jesus, which I wish may 
never leave thy memory, and I shall be waiting for thee at the 
place of execution/ Now think, father and son, how his heart 
lost all fear, and his face was transformed from sadness to joy, 
and he rejoiced, exulted, and said : * Whence comes such grace 
to me, that the sweetness of my soul should await me at the holy 
place of execution ? * See, he had reached such light that he 
called the place of execution holy y and he said : * I shall go all 
joyous and strong, and it will seem to me a thousand years till 1 
come thither, when 1 think that you are awaiting me there * ; and 
he spoke so sweetly of God's goodness, that one might scarce 
sustain it 1 awaited him, then, at the place of execution ; and I 
stayed there, waiting, with continual prayer, in the presence of 
Mary and of Catherine, Virgin and Martyr. But, before he 
arrived, I placed myself down, and stretched out my neck on the 
block ; but nothing was done to me, for I was full of love of 
myself ; then I prayed and insisted, and said to Mary that 1 
wished for this grace, that she would give him true light and 
peace of heart at that moment, and then that I might see him 
return to his end. Then was my soul so full that, albeit a multi- 
tude of the people was there, 1 could not see a creature, by reason 
of the sweet promise made me. Then he came, like a meek 
lamb, and, seeing me, he began to laugh, and he would have me 
make the sign of the Cross over him ; and, when he had received 
the sign, I said : * Down ! to the nuptials, sweet brother mine, 
for soon shalt thou be in eternal life. 1 He placed himself down 
with great meekness, and I stretched out his neck, and bent down 
over him, and reminded him of the blood of the Lamb. His 
mouth said nought save Jesus and Catherine; and, as he spoke 
thus, I received his head into my hands, closing my eyes in the 
Divine Goodness, and saying : / will." 

Then to her ecstatic gaze the heavens seemed to open f and 
she saw the God made Man, in brightness like the sun, receive 
the victim's blood into His own open wounds, his desire into the 
fire of His divine charity, blood into blood, flame into flame, and 

38o 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

the soul herself pass into His side, iC bathed in his own blood, 
which availed as though it were the blood of the Son of God/' 
But, as the soul thus entered and began to taste the divine sweet- 
ness, " she turned to me, even as the bride, when she has come to 
her bridegroom's door, turns back her eyes and her head to salute 
those who have accompanied her, and thereby to show signs of 
thanks. Then did my soul repose in peace and quiet, in such 
great odour of blood that I could not bear to free myself from 
the blood that had come upon me from him. Alas, miserable and 
wretched woman that I am, I will say no more ; I remained on 
earth with the greatest envy" 1 

Ordina quest" amore y O tu che m ami 3 sang Jacopone da Todi : 
H Set this love in order, O thou that lovest Me/' Following out 
this Franciscan line, Dante had based his Purgatorio (which sym- 
bolizes the whole life of man) upon the need of ordering love 
rightly. And it is the same with Catherine. u The soul," she 
says, P that loves disordinately becomes insupportable to herself/' 
Only the Creator may be loved for Himself alone and without 
any measure. Too readily may a spiritual love for a creature 
become entirely sensual, if the eye is not kept fixed on the blood 
of Christ crucified. 2 And this love disordered grows up into the 
monster of self-love, amore propria^ which plays the same part in 
Catherine's doctrine as did the Lupa y the she-wolf of Avarice, in 
the Divina Commcdia. "Self-love/* she writes, "which takes 
away charity and love of our neighbour, is the source and found- 
ation of every evil All scandals, and hatred, and cruelty, and 
everything that is untoward, proceed from this perverse root of 
self-love ; it has poisoned the entire world, and brought disease 
into the mystical body of Holy Church and the universal body 
of the Christian religion/ 1 a And she makes magnificent use of 

1 Letter 273 (97), corrected by the H arid an MS. 

2 Letter 76, Cf, the curiously interesting Letter 245 (122), ** to a Genoese 
of the third order of St. Francis, who had engaged in a spiritual friendship with 
a woman, whereby he endured much travail/' I mid in the Casanatensc MS. 292 
that this tertiary was a certain Fra Gasparo, 

8 Dialog cap. 7. 

381 




n addressing the democratic 
republics. "You see, dearest brothers a 

to the Anziani and Consuls and Gonfalonieri of Bologna, "that 
self-love is what lays waste the city of the soul, and ravages and 
overturns earthly cities. I would have you know that nothing 
has wrought this division in the world save self-love, from which 
has risen and rises all injustice/ 1 1 Through self-love, she tells 
the Signoria of Florence, the virtue of justice has died out in 
monarchies and republics alike : "The legitimate sovereigns have 
become tyrants. The subjects of the Commune do not feed at 
its breast with justice nor fraternal charity ; but each one, with 
falseness and lies, looks to his own private advantage, and not to 
the general weal. Each one is seeking the lordship for himself, 
and not the good state and administration of the city/' 2 Similarly, 
it is to self-love alone that Catherine ascribed the war between 
the Tuscan communes and the Holy See, no less than the 
Great Schism itself ; self-love had transformed Gregory's legates 
to ravening wolves, and Urban's cardinals to incarnate demons. 

Man, therefore, must draw out the two-edged sword of love 
and hate, and slay this worm of sensuality with the hand of Free 
Will. He must utterly cast off servile fear. M Servile fear takes 
away all power from the soul. I think not that man has any 
cause to fear, for God has made him strong against every adver- 
sary/ 1 3 " No operation of the soul that fears with servile fear 
is perfect. In whatever state she be, in small things and in great, 
she falls short, and does not bring to perfection what she has 
begun. O how perilous is this fear I It cuts off the arms of 
holy desire ; it blinds man, for it does not let him know or see 
the truth. This fear proceeds from the blindness of self-love ; 
for, as soon as the rational creature loves itself with sensitive self- 
love, it straightway fears. And this is the cause for which it 
fears ; it has set its love and hope upon a weak thing, that has 
no firmness in itself, nor any stability, but passes like the 
wind." 4 

1 Letter 268 (200). 3 Letter 337 (199). * Appendix, Letter L 

4 Letter 242 (37), to the Bishop of Florence, Angelo Ricasoli, when he left 

382 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 



Whether he be in the cloister or in the world, man must enter 
the cell of self-knowledge, la cella del cogtmscimento di mi t and 
abide therein. At its door he must set the watch-dog, conscience, 
to rouse the understanding with its voice : the dog whose food 
and drink are blood and fire* 1 Within that cell, he will know 
God and man ; he will understand God's love, possess His truth, 
and freely let himself be guided by His will. The cell of self- 
knowledge is the stable in which the traveller through time to 
eternity must be born again. " Thou dost see this sweet and 
loving Word born in a stable, while Mary was journeying ; to 
show to you, who are travellers, that you must ever be born 
again in the stable of knowledge of yourselves, where you will 
find Me born by grace within your souls/' 2 

In addition to the book and the letters, a certain number 
of prayers, twenty-six in all, have been preserved, which Catherine 
uttered on various occasions. One, the shortest, is said to be the 
first thing that she wrote with her own hand : — 

" O holy Spirit, come into my heart ; by Thy power draw 
it to Thee, its God, and grant me love with fear. Guard me, 
Christ, from every evil thought ; warm me and reinflame me with 
Thy most sweet love, so that every pain may seem light to me. 
My holy Father and my sweet Master, help me now in all my 
ministry, Christ Love, Christ Love, Amen." 3 

The others are mystical outpourings, which were taken down 
at the time by the Saint's disciples, and repeat in similar or slightly 
varied forms the aspirations that breathe from her other writings. 
We have the same " sweet enragement of celestial love,' 1 the 
same impassioned* contemplation of the sovereign mysteries of 
the faith, the same devotion to the Blessed Virgin, the same 

the city to observe the interdict, Catherine had previously used the same words 
to Cardinal Pierre d'Estaing, Letter 1 1 (24). 

1 Cf. Letters 2 (50) and 114 (267). 

J DmkgQ f cap. 151. Cf. Botticelli's allegorical picture of the Nativity in the 
National Gallery. 

a Qrat. IV. A slightly different version of this prayer, in Latin, is given 
by Fra Tommaso CaiFarini in the Processus, col. 1279, and in the $uf>pl$mtntum f 
MS. tit., f. 9. 

383 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

desire of offering up her own life for the salvation of souls ar 
the reformation of the Church. It is, indeed, piteous to wat 
this exquisitely tender and angelical woman besieging Hea\ 
with prayers for that grim and ruthless man whom she called her 
" sweet Christ on earth/* imploring God to look upon his good 
will, to hide him under the wings of His mercy so that his 
enemies, the iniqui super bi y may not be able to injure him, to 
robe him with the purity of the faith, to give him light that aH 
the world may follow him, to temper his u virile heart M with 
holy humility. In the striking prayer composed on the feast 
of the Circumcision, probably that of 1380, when those " admirable 
mysteries M began to work within her that finally delivered her 
from the world, we find Catherine including not only Urban, but 
chose very schismatics whom she had addressed as incarnate 
demons, men worthy of a thousand deaths ; now her only thought 
is for the salvation of their souls, and she beseeches the God of 
sovereign clemency to punish their sins upon her own body. The 
last of the series consists of the words she uttered when she 
regained consciousness on the Monday after Sexagesima, when 
her household were weeping for her as dead. It strikes the key- 
note of her passion, and seems, as it were, to sum up the aspir- 
ations of those weeks of prolonged suffering : — 

" O eternal God, O divine Craftsman, who hast made and 
formed the vessel of the body of Thy creature of the dust of the 
ground ! O most sweet Love, Thou hast formed it of so vile a 
thing, and hast put therein so great a treasure as is the soi 
which bears the image of Thee, eternal God. Thou, good Craft! 
man, my sweet Love, Thou art the potter who dost mar and make 
again ; Thou dost shatter and mend this vessel, as pleases Thy 
goodness. To Thee, eternal Father, I, wretched woman, offer 
anew my life for Thy sweet Spouse, that, as often as pleaseth Thy 
goodness, Thou mayest draw me from the body and restore me 
to the body, each time with greater pain than the other ; if only 
I may see the reformation of this sweet Spouse, Thy holy Church, 
I demand this Spouse of Thee, eternal God. Also, I commend to 
Thee my most beloved children, and I beseech Thee, supreme 

3H 



CATHERINES LITERARY WORK 

and eternal Father, if it should please Thy mercy and goodness 
to draw me out of this vessel and make me no more return, not 
to leave them orphans, but visit them with Thy grace, and make 
them live as dead, with true and most perfect light ; bind them 
together in the sweet bond of charity, that they may die of ardent 
desire in this sweet Spouse. And I beseech Thee, eternal Father, 
that not one of them may be taken out of my hands. Forgive 
us all our iniquities, and forgive me my great ignorance, and 
the great negligence that I have committed in Thy Church, in 
not having done what I might and should have done. I have 
sinned, Lord, be merciful unto me. I offer and commend my 
most beloved children to Thee, because they are my soul. And 
if it please Thy goodness to make me still stay in this vessel, do 
Thou, sovereign Physician, heal and sustain it, for it is all torn 
and rent. Grant, eternal Father, grant us Thy sweet benediction. 
Amen." 



*5 3«S 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 

M In toto hoc Urn gravi scismate, ipta Christ! eceleiia continue et indciitienter regitar 
et semper regetur a •piritu tancto," — St, Vincent Ferrer, Dc Modem* Enttiiae Sikumair, III. 4 

" Sono molti die dicono: Io credo in Dio, ma non credo ne a papa, nc a an ti papa."— 
Franco Sacchetti, Strmw II. 

Not in the written word alone did the spirit of Catherine 
of Siena live on after her bodily death. She had left behind her 
more than her mystical writings : a devoted company of men 
and women, trained by her in the cell of self-knowledge, pledged 
to consecrate their lives to righteousness, to labour to the end 
for the conversion of souls, for the unity and reformation of the 
Church, 

With her last breath, she had deputed Monna Alessa to 
succeed her as head of the famiglia y while aU in general were to 
look to Fra Raimondo for spiritual direction. William Flete 
and Messer Matteo Cenni were to preside over the continuation 
of her work in Siena itself. But, although the correspondence 
between the various members shows how for years they kept 
closely associated, nella santa memoria delta Mamma (as Stefano 
Maconi puts it), the actual fellowship was inevitably broken up, 
and each one went on the way that Catherine had pointed out to 
him. Alessa herself did not long survive her beloved friend 
and spiritual mistress, but died shortly afterwards in Rome, 

Fra Raimondo was at Genoa when Catherine died, preparing 
to go by sea to Pisa on the way to Bologna, where a general 
chapter was to be held of that portion of the Dominican order 
that still adhered to Urban, in opposition to the chapter-general 
under the Clementine obedience that Fra Elias of Toulouse had 
summoned for Whitsunday at Lausanne. The friar tells us that 
he was full of apprehension, both because of the storm that was 
raging at sea and because he feared the Clementines were lying 

386 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 



in wait, to take vengeance upon him for having preached the 
crusade against them* He had been singing the high Mass of 
St Peter Martyr, and was going up to the dormitory to prepare 
for the journey, when, as he paused to say the Regina caeli before 
the Madonna's statue, a voice spoke in his heart : <f Fear not ; 
I am here for thee ; I am in heaven for thee ; I will protect and 
defend thee ; be assured and fear nothing ; I am here for thee," 
It was the hour of Catherine's death, though he knew it not. 1 
At Bologna, he was elected master-general in May, in opposition 
to Fra Elias, and the schism in the Dominican order was now 
complete, 2 

A similar disruption had taken place in the other orders in the 
previous yean The general chapter of the Carthusians held 
at Grenoble under Dom Guillaume Rainaud had declared for 
Clement, upon which, in December, Urban had appointed a 
general apostolic visitor of the houses faithful to him* 3 At 
Naples, in October, the general chapter of t he Franciscans , under 
Cardinal Leonardo de* Griffom, had likewise decided to adhere to 
Clement. The Olivetanij on the other hand, being a mainly 
Italian order, were for the most part Urbanist. 

Raimondo's task as master-general of the Dominicans was 
one that would have tried all the powers of a much stronger 
man. He found the whole order rent by the Schism, the 
individual convents either practically deserted, or else corrupt and 
rebellious. The utmost he could do was to induce the chapter- 
general to decree that, in every province under his obedience, 
there should be at least one convent of the regular observance, 
containing at least twelve friars, in which the original rule of St 
Dominic should be maintained in all its pristine severity. Under 
his auspices, this reform was begun in Germany by Conrad of 
Prussia in 1389, and in Venice, in 1391, by Fra Giovanni 
Dominic!, a young Florentine friar of great fervour and eloquence, 

" Legend*, III. iv. 9, 10 {§§ 368, 369). 

3 Cf. Chronica ordints Pracd'tcatorum, ed. Rcichcrt, pp. 26, 27 {Monument* 
O. F. P. historic^ torn. vii.). 

3 Cf. Tromby, VII. pp. 45-51. 

387 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

who had seen Catherine in his boyhood, and believed himself 
to have been miraculously delivered from an impediment in 
his speech by her intercession. In this w ork he found devoted 
and indefat igable assistants in Bart olommeo di D o menico and 
lommaso Cfcffftrini ; but the results were only local ami temporary, 
though several of the houses that were thus founded, for men and 
women, remain to this day. And, in the meanwhile, at the 
chapter-general of the Clementine obedience held under Elias at 
Avignon on the feast of Pentecost, 1386, Raimondo and his 
fellow-labourers were denounced as scelerati ac reprobi fratres % 2xA 
threatened with condign punishment under the constitutions of 
the order, 1 Even the friars of the Roman obedience murmured 
against the reform ; and, in 1395, Raimondo issued an encyclical 
lette^ denying that he was dividing the order and disorganizing 
convents, by inducing friars to emigrate to houses of the strict 
observance, and scandalizing people by the spectacle of two 
Dominican communities in the same town with different rules ; 
those who divide the order are the men who do not observe the 
constitutions. At the same time, he was worn out by illness, 
and distracted by the political missions undertaken on behalf of 
Urban and his successor, in Sicily and elsewhere. 2 He was of too 
gentle a nature to adopt severe measures, which, for the rest, 
could only have resulted in driving the Italian friars into the 
Clementine obedience. In 1396, he went to Germany, to urge 
on the work of reform there, and never returned. " Although 
it would be a joy for me to see thee, M he wrote to Giovanni 
Dominici from Cologne, u nevertheless, it is not really necessary 
for thee to come personally here to bring me back to Italy ; 
especially because 1 know that thy presence in the city of Venice 
is both useful and necessary. But, to speak familiarly with thee, 
it would avail more for my return if thou, with the superior 

1 Monumenta O. F* P. historic^ torn. viii. pp. 22-24. 

8 For Raimondo's work as reformer, cf. Chronica ordinh pratd< f pp. 16-29; 
Fra Tommaso Caffarini, Historia dhcipfinae regularis tnstauratae in axnobih Vtnttu 
O.P. ; J, Luchaire, in Rawe Hhtofique^ torn, 74. (Paris, 1900); AnaUcta BoiUndians, 
xx. p. 113. 

388 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 



and other sons, wouldst procure some viaticum for me, with 
which, by God's aid, I may be able to come back to you ; for 
I have spent both what I had and what I have not yet got, 
and have incurred debts, which I do not think I can satisfy 
without a large sum of money. So do anything you can to 
help me, for, as I deem, you will accomplish a useful act of 
charity and one pleasing to God. For, on account of the long 
illness which has detained me, I shall need many things, if God 
lets me return to you, which I did not need when I came to these 
parts. Nevertheless, I commit all to the eternal providence of 
our Saviour, in whom I desire with my whole heart that thou and 
the family committed to thee may fare ever better/* l He died 
at Nuremberg, on October 5, 1399, leaving a memory of much 
sweet charity and personal holiness. But the Acts of the chapter 
held in that city in 1405, under his successor, Tommaso da 
Fermo, show unmistakably that his work as a reformer had been 
ineffectual. After the schism had been ended, Fra Leonardo da 
Firenze, in his encyclical letter of 142 1, paints a deplorable 
picture of the corruption in the Dominican order : in nosfroordine f 
ubi y proh dolor \ nullus est ordo. 2 

In Raimondo's last letter to Giovanni Domintci, he mentions 
the zeal for the reform of the order that is being shown in Pisa 
by Suor Chiara de 1 Gambacorti. This is the daughter of Messer 
Fiero Gambacorti, Monna Tora, whom we have met among 
Catherine's correspondents, and who had at length become a 
Dominican nun. In October, 1392, the rule of the Gambacorti 
had been overthrown in Pisa, by a conspiracy organized by 
Jacopo d* Appiano, Piero's secretary ; Messer Piero himself and 
two of his sons, Benedetto and Lorenzo (Tora's half-brothers), 
were brutally murdered ; and it is said that Tora, in order to 
preserve the clausura^ refused to give shelter to Lorenzo, when 
wounded and flying from his enemies. More edifying than this 
appalling example of "detachment" is it to read that, when a 

1 Letter of December 18, 1398, in Fra Tommaso Caffarini, §p. cit, pp, 
231-233, 

2 Monumcnta O. F. P. historic^ torn. viii. pp, 112-133, l ^ 2 * 



389 



pp. 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 



and other sons, wouldst procure some viaticum for me, with 
which, by God's aid, I may be able to come back to you ; for 
I have spent both what I had and what 1 have not yet got, 
and have incurred debts, which I do not think I can satisfy 
without a large sum of money. So do anything you can to 
help me, for, as I deem, you will accomplish a useful act of 
charity and one pleasing to God. For, on account of the long 
illness which has detained me, I shall need many things, if God 
lets me return to you, which I did not need when I came to these 
parts. Nevertheless, I commit all to the eternal providence of 
our Saviour, in whom I desire with my whole heart that thou and 
the family committed to thee may fare ever better." ] He died 
at Nuremberg, on October 5, 1399, leaving a memory of much 
sweet charity and personal holiness. But the Acts of the chapter 



held 



HI 



that city in 1405, under his successor, Tommaso da 



Fermo, show unmistakably that his work as a reformer had been 
ineffectual. After the schism had been ended, Fra Leonardo da 
Firenze, in his encyclical letter of 142 1, paints a deplorable 
picture of the corruption in the Dominican order : in nostra or dine ', 
ubi, proh dolor \ nullus est ordo. 2 

In Raimondo's last letter to Giovanni Dominici, he mentions 
the zeal for the reform of the order that is being shown in Pisa 
by Suor Chiara de* Gambacorti, This is the daughter of Messer 
Piero Gambacorti, Monna Tora, whom we have met among 
Catherine's correspondents, and who had at length become a 
Dominican nun. In October, 1392, the rule of the Gambacorti 
had been overthrown in Pisa, by a conspiracy organized by 
Jacopo d* Appiano, Piero' s secretary ; Messer Piero himself and 
two of his sons, Benedetto and Lorenzo (Tora's half-brothers), 
were brutally murdered ; and it is said that Tora, in order to 
preserve the dausura % refused to give shelter to Lorenzo, when 
wounded and flying from his enemies. More edifying than this 
appalling example of "detachment** is it to read that, when a 

1 Letter of December 18, 1398, in Fra Tommaso Caffarini, op, cit. 9 pp. 

23>-233' 

* Monummta O. F. P. historic^ torn. viii. pp. 1 12-133, 162. 

389 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



fresh revolution broke out, and the family of Jacopo d* Appiano 
were in their turn pursued by the populace, Tora sheltered the 
wife and daughters of her father's murderer in the cloistered 
retreat that she had closed against her brother. 

To Barduccio Canigiani, Don Giovanni dalle Celle had 
written a beautiful letter of spiritual consolation on Catherine's 
death, tenderly inviting him to come to Vallombrosa and be 
once more one of his sons in religion. M Come, most beloved 
son, to him who of old was thy father ; come to thy brethren, 
who are expecting thee with such great desire that they 
will think they are receiving an Angel of God, if thou dost 
come/' 1 But Catherine had disposed otherwise. "When the 
holy virgin was departing from this world/ 1 writes Fra Raimondo, 
" she bade him join me and lead his life according to my direction ; 
which I think she did because she knew that he would linger 
in the body but a short while. For, after the virgin's death, 
Barduccio contracted the malady which the physicians call 
consumption, and, albeit he sometimes seemed to grow better, he, 
nevertheless, finally died of it. Wherefore, I, fearing lest the air 
of Rome would harm him, sent him to Siena, where, after a brief 
time, he passed away to Christ. Those who were present at his 
death bear witness that, whilst he was at his last breath, gazing on 
high with a glad countenance, he began to laugh, and so, with a laugh 
of joy, he gave up the ghost, in such wise that the signs of that 
joyous laugh still appeared in his dead body. This thing, I think, 
befell because in his passing he beheld her, whom in life he had 
loved with true charity of heart, robed in splendour, coming with 
gladness to meet him.' 12 Barduccio died in December, 1382, at 
Siena. His father and brother were already dead ; Messer 
Ristoro had died at Lucca, in December, 1380 ; Piero Canigiani 
himself, persecuted and put under bounds by the Republic, passed 
away in exile at Sarzana, in August, 1381. 3 Of the once power- 

1 Letter* del B. Giovanni dalle Cel/e, 26. a Legenda, III. i. 11 (§341). 

8 Anonlmo Florentine, pp. 422, 428. Niccolc* Soderini died at Lucca on 
March 20, 1 381. Ibid., p. 423. In the reaction of 1382, Carlo Strozzi and 
Tommaso Soderini were recalled to Florence. 

390 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 



hil Florentine politicians who had listened to Catherine's words, 
Buonaecorso di Lapo Giovanni alone remained. Highly trusted 
by the State, and employed in many embassies, he was accused on 
his return from a mission to Milan, in November, 1388, of having 
accepted a bribe from Gian Galeazzo ViscontL He appealed to 
be heard in his own defence, upon which Franco Sacchetti, speaking 
for the College of Gonfalonieri, proposed that he should be heard 
in secret and at night. Having thus obtained three days* grace, 
Buonaecorso fled from Florentine territory, and was declared a 
traitor and a rebel. 1 There was one faithful disciple of Catherine's 
still left in Florence ; untouched by the winds of faction that 
smote these piu alte cimt y the tailor, Francesco di Pippino, still 
continued to work in her sweet memory, making his humble 
home a centre for all that looked for righteousness in those 
stormy times. * c When thou dost wish to write to me," wrote 
Giovanni dalle Celle to Guido dal Palagio, "give the letters 
to Francesco, the tailor, a man faithful and loyal even unto 
death; 1 ' 2 

The great friendship that bound Neri di Landoccio to 
Stefano Maconi remained unbroken until the former's death. In 
obedience to Catherine's dying charge, to join the Carthusians, 
and in spite of much opposition from his own family, Stefano 
entered the Certosa of S. Pietro di Pontignano in the spring of 
1 38 1. "I tell thee, dearest brother," he wrote, on May 30, to 
Neri, u with heartfelt gladness, that our benign God, through 
His inestimable goodness and not for my own merits, has turned 
the eye of His mercy towards me, wretched man, unworthy of 
any grace, and has vouchsafed to let me receive the holy habit 
here. I write this to thee, albeit very briefly, in order that thou 
mayest partake with me of the sweet joy and gladness that my 
soul feels. I do not tell thee how and why it came to pass, 
because the time is too short and the story too long ; but this, at 
least, I will not conceal from thee, that our holy Mamma has 
amply shown me by the results what she promised so emphatically 

1 Anmimo Florentine, p. 480 ; Gherardi's in trod act ion, p. 280. 
2 June I, 1392. Lettere at., 23. 

39* 




J**./. I. 



ed£* tJW* erf Mr V*<**/i>S€Zr , 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

at her most blessed end, to help us more afterwards than before." l 
In the following year, to his great dismay, he was made prior of 
Pontignano. " My sweet brother," he wrote to Neri, c * I invite 
thee to have compassion upon me, and also to aid me with holy 
prayer, beseeching God to give me grace to correct my life and 
to be His true servant even unto the end, and that He may 
grant me to bear the weight that He has deigned to lay upon my 
shoulders, as shall be to His honour and my salvation. When I 
took the holy habit, I thanked God, and thought to sing with the 
Psalmist : Lo f then^ I would wander far off and remain in the 
wilderness ; but Obedience, the bride that our holy Mamma gave 
me, wishes me, for my greater weal, to sing : / was as a beast 
before Thee. Therefore am I fain to begin again to glory in the 
Cross of Christ crucified, and to rejoice in the Cross, and to abide 
nowhere else save there." 2 In 1389, at the instance of Gian 
Galeazzo Viseonti, Stefano was transferred to Milan, and made 
prior of the Carthusian convent of Our Lady and St. Ambrose- 
Here he was influential in keeping the Milanese despot faithful to 
theUrbanist obedience, and in furthering the interests of the Com- 
mune of Siena at his court. He was much concerned, too, in the 
founding of the great Certosa of Pavia, which Gian Galeazzo 
was erecting with such lavish magnificence, and of which Don 
Bartolommeo Serafini, the former prior of Gorgona, was the first 
superior. 3 It is pleasant to fancy that we may see idealized 
portraits of Stefano and Bartolommeo among the white-robed 
Carthusians who are bearing their crosses after Christ in Ambrogio 
Borgognone's picture. 

From Pavia, we find Stefano on one occasion coming on 
business of his order to Genoa, and there, con santi ragionamenti di 

1 Letter* del diuepofi, 2!. Cf. Tromby, VII, p, 54 ; Barth. Senensis, op. ri/., 
Lib. II. cap. 2. Stefano had previously been taken prisoner by a band of Breton 
mercenaries, and set free, without payment of ransom, by the intervention of 
Hawkwood — the second occasion upon which he had been delivered by calling 
upon Catherine's name. 

* Ibid., 25. 

9 Barth. Scncnsis, op. at, Lib. II. cap, 13. Cf. Stefano's letter to Matteo 
Cenni, of July 27, 1391, Lettert del discepoli, 33. 

392 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 

dolci materie, having much happy intercourse with Fra Raimondo, 
Fra Tommaso Caffarini, Madonna Orietta Scotti, Francesco 
Malavolti, and others who still had Catherine's name in their 
hearts and on their lips. 1 In 1398, in the chapter-general held 
near Ci lli in Styria, he was elected prior-general of the whole 
Carthusian order under the Roman obedience, in opposition to 
the aged Dom Guillaume Rainaud, who, from the mother-house 
of Grenoble, still ruled the rest of the Carthusians who adhered 
to the Popes of Avignon. A pleasant letter to Fra Tommaso has 
been preserved to us, in which Stefano informs him of his election, 
implores his prayers and commends himself to those of Fra 
Raimondo , and, now that he will no longer reside in Italy, 
commits the book of Catherine's letters (the famous manuscript 
of the Certosa of Pavia) and her other relics to his correspondent's 
care. 2 

Neri di Landoccio, in the meanwhile, had fulfilled Catherine's 
obedience by becoming a hermit, first at Agromaggio near 
Florence, where one of her Florentine friends, Leonardo di 
Niccold Frescobaldi, had founded a hermitage, and afterwards 
at another romiiorio outside the Porta Nuova of Siena. Here, 
he kept closely in touch with the surviving members of the 
fellowship, gathered disciples round him, and lived a life of 
austere holiness. He died on March 12, 1406, and was buried 
at the convent of the Olivetani outside Porta Tufi. 3 

Catherine's other secretary, Francesco Malavolti, remained in 
the world for some years after her death. His wife and children 
having died, an uncle, Niccoluccio Malavolti, seeing the pleasure 
that he took in horses and arms, advised him, if he did not marry 
again, to become a knight of St. John. Francesco tells us how 
he resolved to do this, was accepted by the chapter-general of the 
order at Genoa, and returned to Siena to prepare the armour, 

1 Ltttere del ducepdi, 34.. 

* Letter of October 17, I 398, in Fra Tommaso Caffarini, op* cit. f pp. 230, 
231. 

3 Cf. the touching letter from Luca di Bcnvenuto, one of Neri's disciples, to 
Scr Jacomo, in Letter e del discepoii, ^6. 

393 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 

weapons, and horses that were needed. But, in the night before 
the day upon which he was to be made a knight and receive the 

habit, Catherine herself appeared to him in a vision > rebukir 
him for still clinging to the vanities of the world, and bade him 
rise, seek out Neri di Landoccio, and go with him to the convent 
of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, where he would be received without 
any opposition : " Dost thou not remember how I told thee 
that, when thou shouldst think I was furthest from thee, I should 
then be most near thee, and that I should lay such a yoke upon 
thy neck that thou wilt never be able to shake it off?'* 
Francesco was at once seized with such a desire to take the 
Olivetan habit, that it seemed the night would never end. He 
rose at dawn, and hastened to find Neri in his hermitage, who 
likewise had seen Catherine in the night and been prepared for 
his coming. They went together to Monte Oliveto, where, the 
abbot-general being absent, the prior agreed to receive Francesco 
into the order. He returned to Siena, sold his armour, weapons, 
horses, and distributed the proceeds to the poor, and then, going 
back to the convent, received the habit on the same evening, 
the vigil of St. Lucy. 1 This was in 1388. But Francesco's 
instability pursued him even into the cloister. After filling 
various offices, sometimes that of master of novices, but more 
frequently cellarer, at different convents of the order, he left the 
Olivetan i in 1410, and became a black monk of St. Benedict. 
We find him, in 141 3, a Benedictine in the abbey of San Miliano 
near Sassoferrato, sending his recollections of Catherine to Fra 
Tommaso Caffarini, as his Contestation to form part of the 
Venetian Process ; " concerning those wondrous things," he says 
in the accompanying letter, u which I saw the Lord work in His 
creatures by means of the glorious and holy virgin, Catherine of 
Siena, our most sweet mother, what time I bore her company in 
the city of Siena and without. And albeit I do not narrate a 
hundredth part of what I saw, I nevertheless ratify and confirm 
all that is said in the Legend of the Virgin by Master Raimondo 



1 Cmttttath Framisci dt Malavoith, cap. i., MS. a/., pp. 433-436. 

.394 







S/tr ^-4ian£A <J '//**■ *><i/t 



f.Xf 



SVc&**/—m * 1*1,. £*»***, 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 

for the good of the Church, but which his suspicious mind 
magnified into a plot against his life. The Bishop of Aquila 
and six cardinals, including the English Benedictine, Adam 
Eastoiij were promptly arrested, and subjected to prolonged 
tortures under the superintendence of one Basil, a Levantine 
pirate of Genoese origin, noted for his hatred of the clergy ; 
while Urban himself walked in the garden, reading his breviary 
aloud, and glutting his ears with their cries. When released 
from Nocera by Raimondello Orsini and Tommaso da San 
Severino at the head of a band of foreign mercenaries, the 
remnants of the army of Louis of Anjou, Urban dragged his 
prisoners with him. He had the Bishop of Aquikj who was 
too maimed by torture to follow* butchered by the way, but 
was compelled to set the English Cardinal at liberty through 
the intervention of Richard II, The other five he took with 
him to Genoa in September, and imprisoned them in his house. 
None of these unfortunate men were ever seen again. When 
the Pope left Genoa in December, 1386, they were either thrown 
into the sea, or strangled and buried in quicklime under the 
stables of the house. 1 The rest of the Sacred College shrank 
from him in horror, save a few insignificant Neapolitans whom 
he had recently raised to the purple, but only two, one of 
whom was the Cardinal of Ravenna already mentioned, actually 
went over to his rival 

The tragedy of Urban's pontificate ended with his death 
in the Vatican on October 15, 1389. He who had set out as 
a strenuous reformer of the Church, and a friend of the servants 
of God, thus ended his days in the worst corruption and in 
sacrilegious bloodshed, detested by all, his authority set at 
nought even by the Italian powers which acknowledged him 
as Pope. Creighton puts it to his credit that he refused to 
purchase the allegiance of Aragon by unworthy means. Mad- 
ness seems the only possible explanation of the terrible fall of 
the man in whom Catherine had so passionately believed. One 

1 Dietrich of Nieheim, De Schismatt, I. 50-52, 5^ 57> 60, gives a full 
account of these horrors, which he himself witnessed, 

397 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 

Roman Republic in 1398, rebuilding Castello Sant* Angelo as 
a fortress to overawe the city, and, in 1399, crushing the Count 
of Fondl, Onorato Gaetani, whose fiefs were now absorbed into 
the Papal States. 

As prior-general of the Carthusians of the Roman 
obedience, Stefano Maconi laboured zealously to bring the 
Schism to an end. Himself a strong supporter of the claims 
of Boniface, from whom he had received special faculties and 
apostolic authority for his work, his most ardent efforts were 
directed to healing first the breach in his own order. In 1402, 
from the Styrian charterhouse of St. John, he addressed a long 
letter to the fathers of the Grande Chartreuse, urging them 
to be one body and one spirit with their brethren in the 
Church, offering to lay down his own office for the sake of 
unity. In eloquent and impassioned words, he tells again the 
story of the heroic labours of his seraphic mother, Catherine, 
for the Church, reminding them, and especially Dom GuUlaume, 
of the letter he had written to them at her dictation, when 
she first heard that they were about to follow the party of the 
schismatics, appealing to them to bear witness to the truth that 
she had then announced to them. "Come, then, to our 
common Mother, my brethren ; fulfil my joy, for I have 
nothing more at heart than your salvation, to serve the Divine 
Glory together with you, and to behold the unity of the 
Christian Republic under its lawful head and ruler, the Roman 
Pontiff". Although I am ignorant and unskilled in all things, 
and overladen with grievous errors, yet will I become for 
you the first example of our humiliation, and be the beginning 
of our longed-for union. Now by these letters do I cast 
myself upon the earth, and lie utterly prostrate at your feet. 
Come and trample upon me at your will. I am prepared to 
suffer all things, to endure all things. My mind is ready to 
undergo whatever you will think my confusion, but to me 
will seem glory, if only I may see the unity of our universal 
Mother, the Church, and of our order ; if only the cloud 
with which the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion in 

399 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 



only too clear that neither of the two really intended to keep 
the pledge he had made on accepting election. Gregory always 
bore on his person one of Catherine's teeth, which he treasured 
as a relic ; he sent for Stefano Maconi, to confer with hint 
about her canonization and the peace of the Church ; but he 
had fallen into the hands of his own kindred, especially Antonio 
Correr, one of his nephews, an intriguing and luxurious prelate, 
who were resolved not to let the loaves and fishes of the 
Papacy go out of their family ; and, in political matters, he 
had become a mere tool of the ambitious and warlike young 
Kin g Ladislaus of Naples, the son of Charles of Durazzo, 
Benedict, on his part, in spite of his protestations, had not 
altered his attitude by a jot. After much negotiation, each 
claimant being desirous that the meeting should take place in a 
city subject to his own obedience, Gregory, in April, 1407, 
consented to the choice of Sa vona, a city that acknowledged 
Benedict, who actually went there in November. Gregory, 
on the other hand, moved to Lucca, where, in May, 1408, in 
flagrant violation of his pledges, he created four new cardinals, 
including two of his own nephews (Antonio Correr and 
Gabriele Condulmer), and Fra Giovanni DominicL Upon this, 
his former cardinals renounced their allegiance and fled to 
Livorno. In the meanwhile, King Ladislaus had marched 
upon Rome, and, on April 25, perhaps in understanding 
with Gregory, he occupied it with his army. 1 

The patience of the Catholic world was now exhausted. In 
this same May, 1408, France withdrew her allegiance from 
Benedict, who fled to Perpignan. The cardinals of the Roman 
obedience met those that had deserted Benedict at Livorno, 
from which, on July 14, the united Colleges summoned the 
bishops of Christendom to a Council. In spite of threatened 
armed intervention from Ladislaus, who still adhered to 
Gregory, the Co uncil met at Pisa on March 2fi, 1 409. Of 
those princes of the Church who had shared in the conclave 

1 Cf. Creighton, I, pp« 225-227, where a suggestive characterization of the 
rival claimants to the Papacy is given. 

26 4OI 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIE 



,G°\ 



that elected Urban, and who alone knew how the Schism had 
really arisen, only two were still alive : Benedict himself, under 
the protection of King Martin of Aragon at Perpignan, and 
the aged Cardinal of Poitiers, Guy de Malesset, who now 
presided over the deliberations of the assembly. On June 5, 
the Council ^deposed both Gregory and Benedict asheretics 
and schismatics^ ~tfie~7V~ JJeum rose up fronnFthe cathedral of 
Pisa to thank God for the deliverance of His Church ; the 
bells rang out, and were caught up by the campanili of village 
after village, until the news in this way reached Florence. 
On June 26, twenty-four cardinals, fourteen of whom had 
previously acknowledged Gregory and ten Benedict, elected 
the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan, Peter Philargis, a friar 
minor of Greek origin, who assumed the title of Pope 
Alexander V. 

We are not here concerned with the legality of these 
proceedings. Catholic historians assure us that the cardinals 
had no right either to summon the Council or to depose the 
Pope, whichever of the two claimants we regard as legitimate. 
As neither Gregory nor Benedict would resign their claims, 
the result was that the Church had now to witness the spectacle 
of three rival Popes instead of two. But, were we to apply 
Catherine's test of the adherence of the " servants of God," l 
we should be compelled to accept Alexander, This time, 
however, her own followers were divided. Assailed by the 
foulest lampoons, denounced as an ally of Mahomet and Simon 
Magus, Gi ovanni Dominici not only kept faithful to Gregory, 
but used all the powers of his eloquence to prevent him from 
abdicating ; although his own master-general, Fra Tommaso 
da Fermo, had taken part in the Council, and the Dominican 
order as a whole acknowledged Alexander as Pope in the most 
emphatic language. 2 It seems uncertain whether Stefano Maconi 
was actually present at the Council, but it is quite clear that, 
notwithstanding his personal friendship with Gregory, he now 

1 Letter 350 (187), 

* Cf. Monumenta O. F. P. hlsimea, torn. viii. pp. 138-143. 

402 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 

declared unhesitatingly for Alexander, He had already written 
again to the fathers of the Grande Chartreuse, declaring that 
the Council was lawful and canonical* that the cardinals were 
inspired by the Holy Ghost in summoning it, and whoever 
they elected Pope would undoubtedly be the true vicar of 
Christ. 1 He now went in person to the general chapter of 
the Carthusians of both obediences, held at the Grande 
Chartreuse in the following year, 14 io, where the whole order 
solemnly recognized Alexander as Pope ; and there, in the 
presence of the assembled fathers, he resigned his generalship, 
Boniface Ferrer, who (like his brother St, Vincent) still 
adhered to Benedict, did not attend the chapter, but tendered 
his resignation by letter. 

The Carthusians being thus reunited by his efforts, Stefano 
ret urned to hi s bel o ved S iena, as once more prior of Pontignano. 
Cristofano Guidini and the other surviving members of 
Catherine's fellowship received him with joy. Ser Cristofano 
had lost his wife and six children in the pestilence of 1390, the 
one surviving daughter, Nadda, having become a nun. He had 
then devoted his whole life to the service of the poor and the 
infirm in the hospitals, and, before the end of this year, 14 10, 
he breathed his last in Stefano's arms. In the following year, 
Stefano was again transferred from Siena, and made prior of the 
Certosa o f Pavia, At Siena, he had doubtless seen andTieard a 
young Franciscan friar, born in the year of Catherine's death, 
whom we now call San Bernardino ; we find him a little later, in 
a letter written to Fra Angelo Salvetti from Pavia, vividly 
expressing the great joy with which he has heard of the abundant 
fruit that Fra Bernardino Albizzeschi is producing in the Church 
of God. 2 

From Pavia, Stefano witnessed the pontificate of Alexander's 
successor, the infamous Baldassare Cossa, John XXIII, which 
must have caused much searching of heart among the " servants 
of God n who had so gladly welcomed the result of the Council 

1 Barth. Scncnsis, op. tit., Lib, III. cap, 8. 
* /«*., Lib. IV. cap, 9. 



SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA 



ce met i 



of Pisa. He was still there when the Council of Constance 
1415 — the final movement for unity coming not from the riva 
claimants to the Papacy nor from their cardinals, but from th 
new King of the Romans, Sigismund of Hungary. Giovann 
Dominici, now known as the~Xardinal of Kagusa, having beei 
allowed to convoke the Council anew as legate of Gregory XII 
the fathers, on July 4, accepted Gregory's abdication. They ha< 
previously, on May 29, deposed John. But, at Perpignan, th 
indomitable old Benedict still held out. The personal inter 
vention of King Sigismund himself proved fruitless ; Benedic 
would only abdicate on his own impossible terms. In November 
he fled, and took refuge in Peniscola, a strong castle securel; 
placed over the Mediterranean. Aragon, Castile, and Navarr 
now withdrew their obedience from him, St. Vincent Ferre 
publicly declaring that, although Benedict was the lawful Pope 
the three Kings were thus offering an Epiphany gift to God an< 
the Church for unity and peace. To all appeals, Benedict ha< 
one inflexible reply : " Here is the ark of Noah/* On July 26 
141 7, the Council condemned him as a perjurer, an incorrigibl 
schismatic, and a heretic ; and, on November 1 1, Ottone Colonna 
the son of the Cardinal Agapito already mentioned, was electee 
Pope, and took the title of Martin V. 

The Schism was now officially at an end, and the Churcl 
practically pledged to the cause for which Catherine had battlec 
to the death — the validity of the claims of Urban and hi 
successors in the Roman obedience. But, from his refuge a 
Pefiiscola, Pedro de Luna (as we will now again call Benedict 
still asserted his prerogatives, anathematizing the new Pope anc 
his cardinals, protesting that he alone was the vicar of Christ 
He grew hard and embittered, even putting two priests to thi 
torture to obtain evidence of a plot against his life. Nor was h< 
without adherents- In September, 141 9, complaints were madi 
that the majority of the inhabitants of Languedoc and Guyenw 
still acknowledged him, and he was still being obeyed in some part 
of Scotland in 1420. He had also the powerful support of th 
Counts of Armagnac. At length, cither on November 29, 1. 

404 



THE DISSOLUTION OF THE FELLOWSHIP 



or May 23, 1423 (the uncertainty being, perhaps, due to an 
intentional mystification on the part of his followers), he died. 1 
Strange, mysterious being to the last, it is most probable that he 
was not the mere perjurer and hypocrite of Catholic tradition ; 
it may well be that he really believed in his own claims, and held 
that, in the confusion and turmoil of the world, the truth abided 
in him alone ; in himself, a gracious and loveable personality, 
until, rejected and assailed by all, the fierce Spanish blood flared 
up in his old age. His strenuous refusal to abdicate at the 
bidding of kings and universities had borne fruit in the liberation 
of the Church from the oppressive yoke of France. Unwittingly, 
Pedro de Luna had destroyed the power of the Giant, whom 
Dante had seen in the Earthly Paradise, dragging the transformed 
chariot of the Spouse from the Tree to which the mystical Griffin 
had bound it. Let us leave him thus, the man to whom 
Catherine had twice written in the precious blood as her u dearest 
father in Christ sweet Jesus," and ignore the deplorable sequel 
in which his followers strove to perpetuate the Schism after his 
death. 

The prolonged struggle in which Catherine and he had 
borne their parts being now concluded, Stefano's one desire was 
to be free to give himself entirely to divine contemplation. At 
length, in 1421, u at his earnest entreaties, because of his old age, 
his infirmities, and many labours undertaken for the order/* he 
was allowed to resign his office of prior of the Certosa of Pavia, 
it being decreed that all honour should be paid him in whatever 
convent he chose for residence. In spite of invitations from 
Pontignano, he chose to remain in the Certosa of Pavia, and 
there, on August 7, 1424, he passed away, with the names of 
Mary and Catherine upon his lips. 2 

When Toinmaso Caffarini died in 1434, the last of Catherine's 
spiritual family had joined her again. But, already, the move- 
ment that she had initiated had come to an end, to be renewed 
half a century later, in another form and without success, by Fra 

1 Valois, IV, pp* 450-454. 

2 Barth. Sinensis, op. <■//„ Lil 



cap. 



405 



APPENDIX 



UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF SAINT CATHERINE 

"In quibus litteris cernere erat dmnae virgin)* prope animatam imaginem verinimji 
eipre«tam laactitatit Lineamentis," — Stefan o Maconi (Earth. Senenili, Lib. III. cap, a). 



A Misstr BartohmeQ delta Pact l 

At nome di Jesu Ghristo crucifixo et di Maria dotce. 

Carissimo et reverendo padre in Chnsto dolce Jesu : io Katerina, serva 
et schiava de 1 servi d! Jesu Christo, scrivo a voi nel pretioso sangue sua ; 
con desiderio di vedervi cavaliere virile et non timoroso, considerando io che 
il timore servile toglie la forza dell' anima et non puo piacere at sug 
Creatore. Convienst adunque al tucto torre questo timore. Non mi pare 
che l 1 uomo abbi cagione di temere ; peri che Dio 1* a facto forte contra ogni 
aversario. Che pu6 il dimonio contra noi ? Egli c facto infermo ; perdu to 
a la potent ia per la morte del Figliuolo di Dio* Che puo la came, che e 
infermata per gli flagellt et battiture di Chnsto crucifixo ? Cioe, che V anima 
che raguarda il suo Creatore, Dio et Huomo svenato in sul legno della 
sanctissima croce^ pone freno di subito a ogni movimento carnale et sensuale. 
Che potra il mondo colla superbia et stoke delitie sue ? Sconficto V a colla 
pro fond a hurnilirl, sostenendo obrobrio et vituperio. Debbasi confondere 
1* umana superbia d* insuperbire dove Dio i humiliato, Cos) diceva il nostra 
Salvatorc, invitandoci a non temere di timore servile, dicendo : Rallegra- 
tevi, ch* io 6 vinto il mondo* SI che i nimici sono sconficti, et P uomo 4 forte, 

1 Bartolommeo di Smeduccio, Lord of San Severino in the Marches, styled 
himself " Bartolommeo dclia Vittoria," after his victory over Rodolfo Varano and 
the papal forces in 1377 ; he probably acquired the title "delta Pace*' in 1385, 
when appointed captain-general of the army of the allied Italian communes 
against the foreign mercenaries, upon which occasion he was presented with a 
banner inscribed PAX* Cf. L. Passerini, Smtduai di San Severing in Litta, 
Famiglie ttkbri itaftant, disp. 160, and Sozomeno, Rtr. tit Script., xvi. col. 11 29. 
Bartolommeo was deprived of his lordship by his nephews in 1388, and died in 
1 399. The heading of the letter is an addition of the copyists. 

407 



APPENDIX 



et di tanta forteza che da veruno pu6 cssere volto, 1 se cgli non vonx 
Questo dolcc Dio ci a data la forteza della volunti, che 4 la roccba dcU* 
anima, che n& dimonio ne creatura me la pub torre. Adunque bene potiamo 
stare sicuri et non timorosi. La sicurti vostra voglio che sia in Christo 
dolce Jesiu Egli ci a vestiti del piu forte vestimento che sia, dell* amore 
affibbiato colla maglia del lfbero arbitrio, che il puoi sciogliere et lcgare 
secondo che vuogli. Se questo vestimento della cariti egli il vuole gittare, 
cgli puo, et se egli il vuole tenere, ancho puo. Pensate, carissimo padre, 
che il vestimento primo che noi avessimo fix 1' amore : perb che rummo 
creati alia ymagine et similitudine di Dio solo per amore, et peri 1* uomo 
non puo stare sanza amore, che non e facto d'altro che d' esse amore, che 
cio che egli a secondo V anima et secondo il corpo a per amore ; perche a 
il padre et la madre dato 1* essere al figliuolo, cioc, della substantia della 
came sua, median te la gratia di Dio, solo per amore. Peri che c taxi to 
obligate il figliuolo al padre, et etiandio per V amore che egli gli a, che ve lo 
inchina la natura, non puo sostenere niente del padre d' ingiuria che gli sia 
facta, 2 s* egli e vero figliuolo, Guarda gia che per uno amore proprio di si 
egli fussi venuto a odio con lui, Costui non seguita la natura sua, ma per 
la sua cechita n e uscito fuori, 

Veramente cosl e, caro padre in Christo dolce Jesu, che 1* anima natu- 
ralmente in se medesima dee amare et seguitare il suo padre Creatore, Dio 
eterno, chi, vedendo che Dio V a creata solo per amore, sentesi trarre verso 
di lui, et non pub sostenere le ingturie che gli sieno facte. Vuolne fare la 
vendecta per I* amore ch* egli a al padre; et questa e la ragione 3 perche 
T anima vuole sempre fare vendecta contra la parte sensitiva, che 4 suo 
nimico mortale ; peri che colui che va dricto a essa sensualita, egli rimane 
morto di morte eternale, crucifigge Christo un altra volta, che voi sapete 
che solo per lo peccato egli morl, SI che 1' anima inamorata di Dio, sommo 
eterno Padre, vuole seguitare la natura sua ; l* amore gli fa perdere, et V amore 
fa vendecta di se medesimo, percotendo la falsa passionesensitiva,el dimonio, 
el mondo, et la came, percotendo col coltello dell* odio et dell 1 amore, odio et 
dispiacimento del peccato, amore delle virtu, dilectandosi di quello che Dio 
ami, odiando quello che egli odio. Altora rende I* anima il debito suo al 
padre, seguita la sua natura, gia mai none escie. Guarda gia che non ci 
mettcssi il veleno dclT amore proprio di se medesimo, d' amarsi fuori di Dio, 
ponendo lo studio suo nelle delitie, stati, et dilecti del mondo, fare della 

1 So the Harleun MS, and the Palat. MS, 57 ; thcPalat. MS. 60 reads vhto. 
3 The Palat. MS. 60 has ; neuna ingiuria che al padre sia facta, 
8 So the Harleian MS. and Palat, MS. 57 ; the Palat. MS. 60 reads cagione. 

408 



APPENDIX 



came sua uno dio, tenendola con disordinato dilecto et dilicatezze. Qucsto 
talc non tanto che facci vendecta del nimico che gli a morto il padre, ma 
esso mcdesimo 1* uccide. 

Or non voglio che sia in voi j ma voglio che seguitiate I" anima gentile 
vostra, che Dio v f a data, con amore et libcro arbitrio. Vi strignete et vi 
legate in questo vestimento, che non sari dimonio ne creatura che vel possa 
torre. Cosl vestito et armato delle virtu, col coltello dell' odio et dell' amore, 
perderete il tirnore servile ; possederete la citta dell' anima vostra ; none 
schiferete mai i colpi di veruna tribubtione o pena che poteste sostenere, ne 
volgerete il capo adrieto, cioe, cominciando a entrare nella via delle virtu et 
poi rivolgiervi il capo adrieto a ripigliare il vomito de* peccari mortal L 
Non voglio cosl, ma con una vera perseverantia tnfino all* ultimo : peri che 
il cominciare non e coronato ne degno di gloria ; ma sotamente II perseverare. 
Grande viltl e dell' uomo di cominciare una cosa buona et non trarla a fine, 
O di quanta confusions sarebbe degno quel cavaliere che si truova nel 
campo della battaglia, et volgiessi le spalle adrieto, avendo quasi vinto ! 

Su, padre carissimo, non piu negligent! a, nh volgete piu il capo adrieto a 
raguardare le stolte miser ie del mondo ; che passano e' dilecti suoi come il 
vento, sanza veruna fermeza o stabilita. Non vi fidate della gioventudine 
del corpo vostro, ne delle signorie del mondo : teste V uomo e vivo, teste e 
morto j teste e sano, teste infermo ; teste sign ore, teste e facto servo. 
Adunque quanto e stolto I* uomo che ci pone Y affecto disordinato ; fidasi di 
quello che non si pui fidarc, aspecta quello 1 che non si pui avere, et fugge 
quello eh' cgli pui avere et tenere per suo, cioe, la gratia che la puo avere 
quantunche e* vuole et quando egli vuole ; non per se, ma per essa gratia, 
dono di Spirito Sancto, che gli a dato il libero arbitrio, O inextimabile 
doleissima carita, chi t* a mosso ? Solamente V amore. O dolcissimo amore 
Jesu, per fare piu forte questa anima, et torle la debolezza nella quale era 
caduta per lo peccato, tu I* ai murata atorno atorno, intrisa la calcina 
coll 1 abondantia del sangue tuo, il quale sangue fa untre et conformare* 
l f anima nella divina dolce volunta et carita di Dio ! Che come in mezo tra 
pietra et pietra per conformarsi insieme in forteza, vi si mette la calcina intrisa 
coll* acqua, cosl Dio a messo in mezo fra la creatura et se il sangue dell 1 
unigenito suo Figliuolo, intriso colla calcina viva del fuoco dell* ardentissima 
carita ; peri che non e sangue sanza fuoco, ne fuoco sanza sangue. Sparto 
fil il sangue col fuoco dell* amore che Dio all 1 umana generatione ebbe. 
Per qucsto muro e facto P anima tanto forte, che veruno vento contrario el 

1 So the Palat. MS. 60 ; the others read quel tempo. 

2 So the Palat. MS. 60 ; the others, eonfermare. 
409 



APPENDIX 



potra dare a terra, se non vorri smurarlo si medesimo, dandovi col piccone 
del peccato mortale. 

Quale sara quel cuore tan to duro et ostinato, chc non si muova a ra- 
guardare tanto infinite amore, et la grande sua dignita,dove egli A posto per 
gratia di Dio et non per debito ? Non sari veruno chc raguardandolo et 
ponendoselo per obiecto, che non trapassi ogni sensuaiiti, ct non disolva 
ogni duritia et ignorantia, et ricevera perfectissimo lume et cognoscimento 
di se ; vedendo et cognoscendo se non essere ct la bonta di Dio in se, chc gli 
a dato T essere et ogni gratia che e fondata sopra V essere. Accendasi il 
cuore et 1' anima vostra in Christo dolce Jesu, con amore et desiderio a 
rcndcrli cambio a tanto amore, a rendcrli vita per vita* Egli a dato la vita 
per vol, ct voi vogliate dare la vita per lui, sangue per sangue, Et io 
v f invito, da parte di Christo crucifixo, a dare il sangue vostro per lo sangue 
suo, quando verra il tempo aspectato da'servi di Dio, d* andare a racquistare 
quello che ci e tolto ; cioe, il luogo sancto del scpolcro di Christo, et si Y animc 
degli infedeli che sono nostri fratelli, ricomperati del sangue di Christo come 
noi : el luogo trarre dclle mani loro, ct l* animc loro dclle mani dclle dimonia 
et del la loro infedelta. Invitovi a non essere negligcnte nc tardare quando 
saretc invitato, quando il padre sancto rizera il gonfalone della sanctissima 
Croce, ordinando il sancto et dolec passaggio. Non mi pare che sia veruno 
chc se nedebba ri trarre n£ fuggirlo, ch' egli non corra. Per timore di morte 
non tenia. Et peri dissi ch* io desideravo di vedcrvi cavaliere virile ct non 
timoroso j il sangue vi fara inanimare, et fortificheravi ; torravi ogni timore. 
Priegovi, per 1' amore di Christo crucifixo, che con letitia et desidcrio 
attenetc la 'nvitata di queste dolci et gloriose noze, chc sono noze picne di 
letitia, di dolceza, et d* ogni suavita. A queste noze si lascia la inmonditia, 
et si libera della colpa et della pena ; pascegli alia mensa dell* Agnello, che e 
cibo in essa et servitore. Vcdete che il Padre ci e mensa chc tienc in se 
ogni cosa che e, excepto chc il peccato, che non e in lui. El Verbo del 
Figliuolo di Dio ci A facto cibo, arrostito al fuoco dell' ardentissima carita. 
Lo Spirito Sancto ci A servitore, essa cariti chc per le sue mani ci a donato 
et dona Dio. Ogni gratia et dono spirituale et temporale egli ce la ministra 
continuamente. Bene saresti semplice, voi et chi il facessi, che si dilungassi 
da tanto difecto. Parmi che ogniuno, se non potessi andare ricto, vi vada 
carponi, accio che potiamo mostrare segno d' amore allui, dandogli la vita 
per amore della vita, scontiarc i difecti et i peccati nostri collo strumento 
del corpo, si come collo strumento del corpo abbiamo offeso. 

Questa sara la sancta et dolce veudecta che noi faremo di noi medesimi. 
Esscndo vinta questa parte sensitiva et fragile corpo 

410 



nostra, n mar rem o 



APPENDIX 

vincitori, La ragione et 1* anima nostra rimarra libera et donna ; possederi 
Dio, che e sommo eterno bene* Non indugiamo piu tempo, padre caris- 
simo ; seguftate le vestigie di Christo cruciflxo j bagnatevi nel sangue di 
Christo crucifixo, nascondetevi nellc piaghe di Christo crucifixo, ponetevi 
per obiecto dinanzi a gli occhi dell* anima vostra Christo crucifixo, accio 
che n man i ate in a more et in timore filiale, temendo la col pa et non la pena P 
Non dico pii, Perdonate alia mia ignorantia ; 1* amore et il desiderio mi 
scusi, et il dolore di vederci correrc ostinati et accechati nelle miserie del 
peccato mortale. Permanete nella sancta et dolce dilectione di Dio, Jesu 
do Ice, Jcsii amore, 1 



Sine Titulo 

Al nomc di Jesu Christo chrocifisso et di Maria dolce. 

Charissimo figluolo in Christo dolce Jesu : io Katerina, serva et schiava 
de* servi di Jesu Christo, schrivo ad voi nel prezioso sangue suo ; con 
desiderio di vedervi piena la memoria del sangue di Christo, dolce Jesu 
chrocifisso, et apcrto V occhio dello intelletto ad riguardare il fuoco della 
divina charita, la quale v* e manifesta in esso sangue di Christo Jesu dolce. 
Allora la volonta et Y affetto s' empieri et saziera d' amore, peri che 
V affetto ama quelle che lo intelletto a veduto, et cosl vedro ailcordate et 
conghreghate le tre potenzie dell* anima nostra, et sari adempiuta quelta parola 
che disse el nostro Salvatore : Quando saranno due o tre conghreghati nel 
nome [mio], Io sari in me^zo di loro ; et veramente cosl L Et questo parve 
che il nostro Salvatore volesse dire : che conghreghate le tre potenzie dell* 
anima, chella memoria s* empia del sangue et de* benifici d* Iddio, !' occhio 
dello intelletto veggia, ponendosi per obbietto 1* amore ineffiabile che Iddio 
gl* a, nella volonta ami, 8 Seghuita che, conghreghate queste tre penitenzie 
[potenzie]^ tutte 1' opcrazioni che 1' uomo fa adopera,* tutte sono conghreghate 
nel nome d* Iddio, perche per lui e fatto ogni cosa. Allora V anima nostra 
ghode, chessi vede avere Iddio in mezzo di se per grazia et per effetto dolce 
d* amore, Adunque io voglo che siate sollecito ad andare alia fonte del 
sangue, et empietene il vasello della memoria vostra. Altro non dico. 

1 Harleian MS. 3480 ; Riblioteca Nazioiule di Firenze, MSS, Palatini, 57, 
58, and 60. In the Palat. MS, 60, the letter is headed ; A I Re Carls delta Face ; 
an obvious error of the copyist, 

s Perhaps we should read : eke [or et] la polonth ami, 

8 Probably a slip for : ta adoperare ,* or : fa it adopera. 

4 II 



APPENDIX 

Priegovi per F amore di Christo chrocifisso etc. Permanete nclla sanra et 
dolce dilezione di Dio. Dolce Jesu, dolce Jesu, Amen* 1 



III 
Sine Tituh 

Al nome di Jesu Christo chrocifisso ct di Maria dolce. 

Ad voij charissimo figluolo in Christo dolce Jesu : io Chaterina, scrva 
ct schiava de* servi di Jesu Christo, ischrivo ad voi ncl prczioso sanghue 
suo ; con dcsiderio di vedervi vcstito di Christo dolce Jesu, et spogbtto 
dello antico vecchio peccato, el quale procede dallo amore propio sensitivo 
chel I* uomo a asse medesimo. O me, egli e quello amore chc accicgha 1* ani- 
ma, togle la vita, et dagli la morte, togle la ricchezza della virtu, et dagli la 
poverta. Egli iscondante del prossimo suo. 2 S' egli e subito \subdito\ non 
ubbidisce, perchc e fondato in superbia. S* egli e par la to \pretato\ o signore, 
non corregge, per timore di non perdere la signoria. S* egli e giudice, non 
giudica giustamcntc secondo coscienzia, ma secondo le volenti et piaceri 
degF uomini. Tutto qucsto procede dalta perversita dell* amore propio, chc 
se F uomo non amassc si per sc, ma amasse se per Dio, non farebbe cosl ; 
col timore suo farebbe cio che avesse affare, tenendo Iddio dinanzi ad gP 
occhi dello intelletto suo, et perde V amore sensitivo, et adquista uno amore 
incflabile del suo Chreatore ; spogla se delF uomo vecchio, et veste se 
dell* uomo nuovo, che vestendosi d* amore d* affetto di carita si truova 
vestito d\ Christo chrocifisso ; cioe, che; non cercha ne Iddio ne virtu sanza 
faticha, ma per la via della Chroce, seguitando le vestigie della prima dolce 
Verita, Questo fa F amma inamorata d 1 Iddio, che poi che [a] aperto 
Focchio dello intelletto ad riguardare F amore inistimabile che Iddio gF ), 
che per amore gF a dato il Verbo delP unigenito suo Figluolo, et il Figlu- 
olo a dimostrato P amore con pena, sostenendo inline alia obbrobiosa morte 
della Chroce, allora concepe tan to amore in se che in tutto egli vuolc 
seghuitare in pena et in chroce, sostenendo fame et sete, persechuzione, 
molestie, dal mondo, dal dimonio, et da se medesimo ; con tutti resistc 
et combatte, per amore della virtu. Egli ama quello che Iddio ama, 
odia quello che Iddio hodia, perche Christo bencdetto ami la virtu et 
avea in hodio tl peccato, et peri ne voile morire et punirlo sopra il corpo 

1 Riblioteca Riccardiana, MS. 1303. In transcribing these letters, I reproduce 
faithfully the orthography of the writer of the manuscript in each case, with its 
variations. The text of this and the following letter is manifestly corrupt. 

a i. e. Eglt k scordante del prossimo suo. 

412 



APPENDIX 

suo. Costui il voite seghuitare, per si fat to modo n* e fat to amatore delle 
pene, che se fussi possibtle avere virtu sanza raticha, non la vuole, per unirsi 
con Christo chrocifisso* Costui fk il contrario che colui che e nello amore 
propio. Egli a il cuore largo et liberale d' amare Iddio et il prossimo suo 
chorne se medesimo, hubbidiente et humile sanza superbta, giusto giudiee 
che rende ad ciaschuno il deb i to suo ; non e ciecho ne ingnorante ; anzi e 
illuminate, et [con] vera sapienzia discerne et vede quello che a affare, 
perche egli a tratto da se V amore propio che Y accechava j riceve Y aiuto 
della grazia, collo amore divino et lume della fede, medtame il sanguc del 
Figluoto d* Iddio ; di questo si sazia, et si se ne tnebbria di fuoco d* amore. 
Veste se dell' uomo nuovo, che ripara a T colpi delle ricchezze et delle adver- 
sita del mondo et agli tnganni del dimonio, et in tutti e forte ; per Christo 
chrocifisso se reputa fare ogni cosa. Nelle pene si diletta, ne'diletti tempo- 
ral! si contrista > per hodio et dispiacimento della parte sensitiva, che e istata 
et e ribella al suo Chriatore* Ad questo modo si spoglia dell' amore di sc, 
et vestesi dello amore d 1 Iddio. Vedete quart to £ necessario ad essere vestilo 
d\ si glorioso vestimento* Essendo noi posti in questo campo della battalgla, 
per gli colpi checci sono dati, verremo meno, Peri dissi to che io desideravo 
di vedervi vestko, considerando me che altro modo non c' era ad potere ghu- 
stare et avere Iddio per grazia in questa vita* Priegovi che siate sollecito 
et non nighrigente, cercando le vie et modi el quale vel faccino avere. 
Ischrivestimi se mi parea il meglio lo stare di qua, perchi avete desiderio 
per piu pace et salute vostra, del ventre. Figluolo mio dolce, io non so 
bene discerncre quale sia il meglio j ma voi avete provato di qua et di 
costa ; dove voi trovate piu pace et piu quiete et meno pericolo dell* anima 
vostra, quello ptgliate, secondo chelto Spirito Santo v* amacstra. Et io & 
preghato et pregherro lui che vi spiri, o qui o costl o a Roma, di fame 
quello chessia piu honore suo et bene di voi, Altro non vi dtco. Per- 
man etc nella santa et dolce dilezione d' Iddio. Jesu dolce, Jesu amore, 1 



IV 

A Signori Priori delt Arti et il Gonfalonier* della Giuititia 
della Citta di Firenze 

Al nome di Jesii Christo crocifixo et di Maria dolcie. 
Karissimi fratelli et signori miei in Christo dolcie Jesu : io Caterina, 
serva et schiava de* servi di Jesu Christo, scrivo a voi nel prezioso sangue 
suo ; con desiderio di vedervi legati et uniti nel legame della earita, el quale 
1 Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS. 1303. 
413 



APPENDIX 



Icgamc e di tanta fortezza che nc dimonio ne crcatura il puo tagliare, ct di 
tanta unione che niuno pu6 scpararc 1* anima che [e] unita in qucsta perfctta 
No! la puo separarc il mondo co* suoi inganni, nc colic sue frode, nc 
colic sue mormorationi et infamie, ni il dimonio colla sua astutia, ni con 
diversi ct sottili inganni suoi, che spesse volte con inganni si pone in sulla 
lingua dclla creatura, facendoli dire parole di rimproverio al proximo suo. 
Qucsto fa solo per privarlo dell* unione della carita. Nc la propria sensu- 
al ita colla fragile came la pu6 scpararc, ma coo lume dclla ragione le disprc- 
gia, con dispiacimento dclla propria colpa sua ; questi conbatte virilmcnte 
col mondo, et non e mai vinto, rna sempre vince, perche Dio, che e somma 
ct etterna fortezza, e dentro ncll* anima sua per gratia ; et in qualunque 
stato la persona e, vive virilmeritc ct con affetto di virtu, quando e legato in 
si dolcie legame et unttonella dilectione et carita dolcedcl proximo suo. Sc 
elli e subdito secolare,eIfi e sempre obediente alia leggie diving osservando i 
dolci comandamenti di Dio, et alia legge civile, non trapassando le costu- 
tioni et comandameoto del signorc suo ; se elli e religioso, e osservatorc dell' 
ordine infino alb morte ; et se viene a stato di signoria, in lui rilucc la 
margarita della santa giustitia, tenendo ragione et giustitia al piccolo come 
al grande, et al povaro come a richo ; et non la guasta questa virtu della 
giustitia, ne per piacere alii huomini, nc per rivenderia di pecunia, nc per 
amore che elli abbi al suo bene particulare ; per6 che non atende al suo 
bene proprio, maal bene universale di tutta la citta, et pero apre 1* ochio dcllo 
intclletto non passionato per alcuna ingiuria che elli abbi riccvuta, ma al 
bene comune. Questa e quella dolcie virtu che pacifica la crcatura col 
suo Creatore, et l f uno cittadino coll' altro, perche el la escie della fontana 
della carita et vincolo d* amore et unione perfctta, la quale a fatta in Dio 
et ncl proximo suo, Gnde considcrando me ch* ella v* e tan to di neccssiti, 
et singularmente in qucsto tempo, dixi che io desideravo di vedervi legati 
et uniti ncl legame della cariti, pero die in altro modo non verreste in 
effettodi quello che desiderate. 

Voi avete desiderio di riformare la vostra citta, ma io vi dicho che 
questo desiderio non s' adempira mai, se voi non vi ingegniate di gittare a 
terra 1'odio et il rancore del cuore ct 1* amore propria di voi medesimi, cioi, 
che voi non atendiate solamente a voi, ma al bene universale di tutta la citta, 
Unde io vi priego per I* amore di Christo crocifixo, che per V utilita vostra 
voi non miriate a mettere governatori nclla citta piu uno che un altro, ma 
huomini virtuosi, savi et discreti, e* quali col lume della ragione diano quello 
ordine che e di necessita, per la pace dentro et per confermatione di quella 
di fuori, la quale Idio ci a conceduta per la infinita sua miser i cord i a, d*avcrc 

414 












APPENDIX 



pacificati i figliuoli col padre, et rimesse noi pecorelle nell* ovile della santa 
Chiesa. Et pero fate chc voi non siate ingrati a tanto benefitio, cl quale 
avete ricevuto da Dio, col mezzo delle lagrime et della cominua orattone 
de'servi suoi, non per le nostre virtu, ma solo in virtu della focata carita di 
Dio, el quale non dispregia V oratione et il desiderio de* servi suoi, Dicovi 
che, se non sarete grati ct conoscenti a] vostro Creators, si secharebbe verso 
di noi la fonte della pieta ; unde io vi priego chc giusto al vostro potcre voi 
vi studiate di mostrare questa gratitudine, d* ordinare che voi tosto abiate le 
messe et V asolutionc ordinata, accio che si possa dire V officio con voce di 
laudc dinanzi a Dio, et una processions ordinata con debita devotions, 
acciA che le dimonia, che per li nostri peccatt anno accopata [sic] la citta et 
toko il lume et il conoscimento all! huomini, si caccino, legandole con 
questo dolcie legame della carita, et cosl non CI potranno nuocere, ma piu 
tosto noi noceremo alloro. Per questo modo compiercte el vostro et el 
mio desiderio, cioe, di riformare la citta vostra in buono stato, et terretela in 
vera et perfetta pace. Ma se ogniuno volesse tirare a suo parere con poco 
senno di ragione, noi fareste mai ; pero che la cosa che non e unita, non 
puo tenere pur la casa sua, non tanto che una citta cos! fatta. Vogliono 
essere huomini maturi, csperti, et non fanciulli, et cosl vi priego che facciate ; 
et ingegnatevi di tenere i cittadini vostri dentro et non di fuore, peri che 
usciti non fece mai buona citta, la quale repute mia ; et il dolore ch* to 6 di 
vederla in tanta fadiga mene scusi. Non credetti scrivarvi, ma a bocha con 
voce viva vi credetti dire queste simili parole, per honore di Dio et vostra 
utilita ; che mia intentione era di visitarvi, et fare festa con voi della santa 
pace, per la quale pace io tanto tempo mi son afadigata, in cio che io 6 
potato secondo la mia possibility et la mia pacha virti : se piu virti avessi 
avuta, piu virtu avrci adoperato, Fatta festa et ringratiato la divina bonti 
et voi, mt volevo part ire, et andarmene a Siena. Ora pare che '1 dimonio 
abbia tanto seminato ingiustamente ne' cuori loro verso di me, che io non o 
voluto chc si agiunghino piu oflFesasopra offesa, pero che quanto piu se n' agiu- 
gnesse, piu cresciarebbe ruina. Sommi partita col la divina gratia, et priego la 
somma ctterna Bonta che padfichi et unisca et leghi e* cuori vostri, V uno coll* 
altro,sl in affetto di carita, che ne dimonio ne creatura vi possa mai separare. 
Ci6 che per me per la salute vostra si potri adopcrare, infino alia mortc 
adoperri volentieri, a malgrado de* dimoni visibili et invisibtli, che vogliono 
impedirc ogni santo desiderio. Vommene consolata, perchi [e] compiuto 
in me quello che io mi puosi in cuore quando entrai in questa citta, di mai 
non partirmi, se io ne dovessi morire, infino che io non vedessi pacificati 
voi figliuoli col vostro padre, vedendo tanto pericolo et danno nell* animeet 

415 



APPENDIX 

nc corpi ; dolorosa et con tristitia mi parto, lassando la citti in tanta 
amaritudinc ; ma Dio ctterno che m' a consolata dell' una mi consoli dell* 
altra, che io vi vegha ct scnta pacificarc in buono et fermo ct perfetto stato, 
accio che potiate atendcre a renders gloria ct loda al nomc suo, et non con 
tanta aflitione stare sotto V armc. Spero che la dementia dolcie di Dio 
vollera Tochio dclla sua misericordia, et compira ii desiderio de* scrvi suoi. 
Altro non vi dico. Permanetc nella santa et dolcie dilectione di Dio. 
Jcsu dolce, Jesu amore, 1 



A Francesco di Pippin* sario in Firenze 

Al nomc di Jesu Christo crucifixo et di Maria dolce. 

Carissimi figltuoli in Christo dolec Jesu : * io Caterina, serva ct schiava 
de fl servi di Jesu Christo, scrivo a voi ncl prctioso sanguc suo ; con desiderio 
di vedervi constant! et perseveranti nc la virtu, acci6 che riceviate la corona 
de la gloria, la quale non si da a chi solo comincia, ma a chi persevera infine 
a la morte. Unde io voglio che perse veriate et cresciate in virtu, et non 
sia veruna tribulatione nc battaglia dal demon io ne da le creature che vi 
faccia vullere el capo adietro. Bagnatevi nel sangue di Christo, annegando 
et uccidendo ogni propria volonti et passione sensitiva, et allora sarete racri 
forti, che neuna cosa vi potra muovere, pero che sarete fondati sopra la viva 
pietra, Christo dolce Jesu, et cos! sarete constanti et perseveranti infine a 
la morte, et ricevarete el premio de le vostre fadighe. Non dico piu qui. 

Per la grande bonti di Dio, et per comandamento del santo padre, mi 
credo andare a Roma per di qui a mezzo questo mese, piu et meno come 
piacerit a Dio, et faremo la via per terra ; si che io vel fo sapere, come io vi 
promissi. Pregate Dio che ci faccia compire la sua volunta. Prego voi, 
Francesco, per l* amore di Christo crucifixo, che duriate fadiga di dare le 
lettere che io vi mando con questa, prestamente, per honore di Dio ct 
piacere di me. Andate infine a Monna Pavok, et ditcle, se ella non ie 
avuto dt corte quello che ella voleva, che me lo scriva, et io far6 per lei 
come per mad re, Ditele che preghi, et faccia pregarc le figliuole tutte per 

1 Bibliotcca Nazionalc di Firenze, Strozzi MS., xxxv. 199. This important 
letter was written between August 2, 1378, when Catherine left Florence, and 
October 23, when the absolution was formally pronounced. 

* In the plural because addressed to Monna Agnesc as well, though only 
Francesco's name appears in the title. 

416 



APPENDIX 

noi* Rttrovate Nicoli povcro di Romagna, et ditegli come io so per 
andare a Rom% et che si conforti et preghi Dio per noi. Sopra tutto vi 
prego che la lettera di Leonardo Frescubaldi voi la diate in sua mano el piu 
lotto che potete, et cos! quella di frate Leonardo ; non vi sia grave di 
portarglilt, se elli non fusse costi. Barduccio vi prega che diate una sua 
lettera al padre et a* frateilij et dite loro che vi diano se egli vogliono 
man dare cavelle, et fate di mandarci o recarci quello che vi daranno, se voi 
venite qua. Permanete ne la santa et dolce dilectione di Dio, Jesu 
dolce, Jesu amore. Fatta adl III I di Novembre, 1378, in Siena. 1 



VI 

A Bartah Usimbardi it Francesco di Pippina 

Al no me di Jesu Christo crucifix o et di Maria dolce, 

Carissimi figliuoli in Christo dolce Jesu : io Caterina, serva et schiava 
de* servi di Jesu Christo, scrivo a voi nel pretioso sangue suo ; con desiderio 
di vedervi grati et cognoscenti de* beneficii ricevuti dal vostro Creatore, accii 
che in voi si notriehi la fonte della pieta. Questa grati tudine vi rara 
solliciti ad exercitarvi alia virtu j peri che, come la ingratitudine fa V anima 
pigra et negligente, cos) questa dolce grati tudine le da fame del tempo, in 
tanto che non passa ora ne pun to, che ella non lavori. Da questa grati tu- 
dine precede ogni vera virtu. Chi ci da carita ? Chi ci fa urnili et 
patienti i Solo la gratitudine. Et perche vede et grande debito che k con 
Dio, s' ingegna di vivere virtuosamente ; peri che cognosce che Dio non ci 
richiede attro, Et peri, figliuoli miei dolci, recatevi con grande sollici tu- 
dine a memoria e* molti beneficii ricevuti da lui, ad cii che perfectarnente 
acquistiate questa mad re de le virtu. 

Ebbi m quest i dl le vostre lettere, cioe, una da Bartalo, una da Francesco, 
et una da Monna Agnesa, le quali viddi volomieri, Rispondovi de la 
spesa del privilegio, che ogni cosa a pagato el sangue di Christo crucifixo, 
et peri neuno denaio ci bisogna, ma vogho che vi costi lagrime cordial! et 
orattone per la santa Chiesa et per Christo in terra, et che voi preghtate 
ogni di strettamente Dio per lui. Et bene confess© che se noi dessimo el 
nostro corpo ad ardere, non potremmo satisfare a tanta gratia quanta Dio 
ci a facta ; che in questa vita aviamo la certezza de la nostra salute, se noi 
avremo viva fede, et sarcmo grati et cognoscenti. Ma el nostro dolce Dio 
non ci richiede piu che noi potiamo fare, Siatemi virtuosi, et brigate di 

1 Biblioteca Naztoiuk di Firenzc, MS, xxxviiL 130. Cf. Letter 289 (292). 



27 



417 



APPENDIX 

crescere per modo chc io me n* avegga. Mandovi per frate Jacomo Manni, 
portatore di questa letters, el privilegio con la bolla papalc, in sul quale e 
Monna Pavola del monasterio da Santo Giorgio, ct Monna Andrea sua 
serva, et setevi su voi quattro, cioe, Bartalo et Monna Orsa, et Francesco 
ct Monna Agnesa, Et pero quando V avete ricevuto, fatene levare i vostri 
nomi per carta al vcscovado come bisogna, et il privilegio darete a Monna 
Pavola quando sari tornata, che ora e qua, inteso come Giannozzo e 
preso ; non so quanto vi stara. Piacemi quello che voi, Francesco, me ne 
scrivete, cioe, di non abandonarlo mai, et cosl vi comando, per parte di 
Christo crucifixo, che molto spesso el visitiate, confortiate, et sovenrate in 
cio che v* e possibile ; pensate che Dio non ci nchiede altro, se non che 
sopra el proximo nostro manifestiamo f a more che aviamo allui. Io vel 
racomando strettamente, et diteli per mia parte che sia buono cavaliere, ora 
che Dio F a messo in carnpo, et il suo combattere sia la vera patienna, 
chinando per humilita el capo a la dolce volunta di Dio, Molto el con- 
fortatc per mia parte et di tutta questa forneglia, i quali tutti gli anno 
grande compassione. Quando Dio el permettara, gli scrivero una lettera. 
Diteli che faccia cii che pui per space iarsi tosto, et non miri perche non 
abbi apieno sua intentione. Altro non vi dico. Permanete ne la santa et 
dolce dilectione di Dio. Benedicete i fanciulli. Jesu dolce, Jesu amore. 
Facta a dl VIII di Maggio in Roma, 1 



VII 
A Pitrc Cani giant da Fiorenze 2 

Al nome di Jesu Christo crocifixo et di Maria dolce, 

Karissimo padre et figluolo in Christo dolce Jesu : io Katcrina, schiava 
de" servi di Jesu Christo, scrivo a voi nel pretioso sangue suo ; con 
desiderio di vedere in voi quella gloriosa virtu della perseverantia, la quale c 
quella virtii che & coronata. Et che modo terremo ad acquistare et con- 
servare in noi questa virtii ? II modo e questo, Voi sapete che ogni virtu 
s' acquista col lume, et sanza esso niuna virtu si pu6 acquistare, perch v 
virtu a vita dalla carita, la quale carita c uno amore ; che V anima col lume 
della fede, il quale e nell' occhio dell* intellecto, vede V amore ineftabtleche 
Dio T a ; vedendolo, cognosce la inextimabile bonta di Dio et se esserc 

1 f.#. 1379. Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze, MS. xxxviii. 130. Cf. Letter 
89 (290). 

2 patri met* secundum carntm, adds the scribe, Barduccio Canigiani. 

418 



APPENDIX 



amata da lui prima che ella fosse ; unde concipe uno amore, perche col 
lume vide chc Dio e degno d* essere amato, et chc el la c obligata ad aniarlo 
per debito, Questo cosl facto amore incatena et lega tucte 1* altre virtu, per 
si facto modo che una non se ne pui avere per fee tame ntc chc tucte 1* altre 
non s* abbino. Adunque col lume s* acquisteri questa reale virtu della 
perseverantia. Questo lume la conserva, et questo lume l* accresce : anco, 
tanto cresce o menoma } quanto il lume crescesse o menomasse ; peri che 
esso facto che 1* anima si truova sanza il lume, e sanza questa virtu della 
perseverantia, et subito volta il capo adietro. Bene dobiamo dunque 
studiare che questo lume non ci sia toko dalla nuvola dell 1 amore proprio, 
cioe, d 1 amare se et le cose del mondo et lo stato sensitivamente ; che, per 
lo libero arbitrio che V uomo a, si pui voltare ad ogni mano. Unde se 
T occhio dell* intcllecto e mosso dall* appetite sensitive, subito si pone a 
vedere et a vol ere cog nose ere quest e cose transitorie, le quali passano come 
il vento, et in esse si vuole dilectare ; ma perche ciecamente vede, non 
cognosce che in esse non e perfecto dilecto ne rtposo ; anco, v* e tanta 
inperfectione et inquiete, che V anima che disordinatamente 1* ama e 
incomportabile a se medesima ; ma se I* affecto ordinato muove 1* intcllecto, 
egli si pone a vedere et cognoscerc la veriti, la quale il fa fermo et stabile, 
et peri abraccia et seguita la doetrina di Christo crocifixo, che e essa veriti, 
dove ella truova com pi to dilecto, unde el la spregia se medesima, cioe, quella 
perversa legge che impugna contra lo spirito. Et perche a cognosciuta la 
veriti, odia quello che prima amava, et ama quelle che odiava. Per questo 
modo fugge et schifa la colpa, peri che la colpa nostra non sta in altro se 
non in odiare quello che Christo ami, et amare quello che egli odii. Tanto 
gli dispiacque la colpa, che egli la volse punire sopra al corpo suo. Anco, 
ne fece una ancudine, sopra la quale fabrici le nostre iniquita j et tanto ami 
T onore del padre et la salute nostra, chc per rendere altui V onore et a noi 
la vita della gratia, la quale avamo perduta per la colpa d' Adam, et accii 
chc la virtu et la buona et santa vita ci valcsse ad vita eterna, corse all* 
obrobriosa rnorte della santissima Croce, Per questa via con serve rein a 
questa virtu : satollianci d' obrobrii j aviliamo no! medesimi j facia nci 
piccoli per vera humilita, se noi voliamo essere grandi nel conspecto di Dio* 
Lassiamo ogimai i morti sotterrare a* morti, et noi seguitiamo la vita di 
Christo dolce Jesu, perse verando infmo alia morte nelle vere et real! virtu* 
Ad questo voglio che attendiate, et non ci mectete indugio di tempo, ma 
con perseverantia, peri che *1 tempo nostro e breve, tanto che non potiamo 
piu che con grande desiderio spogliarci di questa vita mortale et dirizzarci 
verso il nostro fine, Raguardate bene che egli e cosl j et niuno e, giovane 

419 



APPENDIX 

della morte, che mai per niuna cosa rista questo corscx Dormendo, mangi- 
ando, parlando, ct in ogni altra cosa, sernpre corriamo verso la morte. 
Cosl dobiamo noi fare, et faremo sc in ogni nostra operatione ci porrcmo 
Dio dinanzi j pero che allora sempre starcmo col suo santo timore. Cosl 
sara lunga et crescent questa virtu della perseverantia in noi ; uncle nella 
fine riceveremo il fructo delle nostre fatighe et la corona della gloria, 
riposandoci nel termine di vita eterna* In altro modo, no, Et perche 
altro modo io non ci veggo, dixi che io desiderava dl vedere in voi questa 
gloriosa virtu della perse veranda, la quale s'acquista, conservasi, et cresce 
per lo modo che decto abiamo. Voglio adunque che con grande diligent fa 
et solHcitudine v* ingegniate d' acquistarc in voi quest! modi, accio che si 
compi in voi la volunti di Dio et il desiderio deir anima mia, perche cerco la 
salute vostra quanto la mia propria, Spero nella infinita dolce bonta di Dio, 
che vi dara gratia di farlo. Altro non vi dico. Permanete nella santa et 
dolce dilectione di Dio. Jesu dolce, Jesii amore. 1 



VIII 

Alia Prhra et Manache di Santa Agnesa da Monte Puldano 

Al nome di Jesu Christo crocifixo et di Maria dolce. 

Karissime madre et figluole in Christo dolce Jesu : io Katerina, schiava 
de' servi di Jesu Christo, scrivo a voi nel pretioso sangue suo ; con desiderio 
di vedervi an negate nel sangue dello svenato Agnello, il quale vi mostra 
T amore inefrabile del vostro Creatore, che per trarci della servitudine del 
dimonio ct don6 questo Verbo del suo Figluolo, accio che col mezo della 
morte ci tollesse la morte et rendesseci la vita della gratia. In questo sangue 
conciperete amore a V honore di Dio et alia salute delF anime, seguitando 
questo humile Agnello che, per honore del padre et salute nostra et di tucto 
il mondo, sostenne tante pene, strati i, obrobrii, et villanie, et netl* ultimo la 
vituperosa morte della Croce. In questo glorioso sangue sarete fortificate ; 
diventarete patienti, che di niuna cosa vi turbercte, perche avrete veduto 
col lume della fede che Dio non vuolc altro che la nostra santificatione, et 
per questo fine ci di et permectc cio che ci da in questa vita. Et ancora 
per desiderio che avrete di conformant col vostro Sposo, Christo dolce 
Jesu, unde d* ogni cosa vi rallegrarete, cosl della tribolatione come della 
consolatione, et cosi della sanita come della infermita; peri che 1' anima che 

1 Casanateme MS. 292. This letter was evidently written from Rome in the 
latter part of 1379. 

421 



APPENDIX 

e annegata in questo dolce sangue perde in tutto se, et non cerca tempo i 
luogo a modo sue, ma a modo di Dio. Ogni cosa a in debita reverentia, 
perche tucto vede che 1* e conccduto dal suo Crcatorc per araorc. Niuna 
cosa le da pens, se non 1' offesa di Dio et la dannatione dell* anime, la qua! 
pena non aifltgge ne disecca V anima, anco la 'ngrassa, perche 6 fondata 
nell* affecto della carita. Adunque bene e da inebriarsi di questo pretioso 
sangue per continua memoria, poi che tanta utilita ne seguita ; et a questo 
v f invito. Godete et cxultate, mad re et figluole mie dolci in Christo, che 
ora avete di nuovo riccvuto del sangue di Chrtsto in grande ahondantia ; 
peri che il santo padre, Papa Urbano sexto, nT a conceduta la indulgentia 
di col pa et pena nella extremita della morte per tucta cotesta famigiia, cioc, 
a quelle che non P anno, et anco m* & conceduto uno certo perdono a 
cotesto luogo : non e ancora dichiarato quanto nc quando, etc, Destatevi, 
destatevi, karissime, a ricognoscere si smisurata largezza di caritA, con uno 
dolce ringratiamento verso la divina Bonta. Guardate che non foste ingrate, 
per I* amore di Christo crocifixo ; ora vi conviene levare da ogni negligentta, 
et con una soUicitudine et fame exercitarvi all* oratione santa, et studiarvi 
d f acquistare le vere virtu, Non cessate d* orarc con raolta vigilia, lagrtme 
et sudori, per la reformatione della dolce Sposa di Christo, la quale vediamo 
in tanta aversita che gia non pare che possa piii ; et per lo santo padre, tl 
quale e giusto huomo, virile, et zelante de 1' honore di Dio. Strigncte lo 
Sposo vostro, che infonda in lui uno lume di gratia, col quale egli confonda 
la tenebre, divella i vitii, et pianti le virtu. Et per noi pregate, che ci dia 
gratia di compire la votuma sua, et che noi diamo la vita per lo suo honore 
et per amore della verttL Altro non vi dico, Permanete nella santa et 
dolcc dilcctione di Dio. Jesu dolce, Jesii amore. 1 

1 Casanatense MS. 292, which also contains a fuller text of the other letter, 
336 05 7}» addressed to the same prioress and nuns. 



422 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



A. PRIMAL SOURCES FOR CATHERINE'S LIFE AND HER WORKS 



Auctorc Fr. Raimundo Capuano [Legenda]* Acta 
Antwerp, 1675. New edition, Paris and Rome, 



(1) The Legend, 
5, Catkarinae Senensls rita. 

Sanctorum, April is, Tom, III. 
1866. 

Ltgenda delP amirabile verging beata Ckaterina da Siena suora de/la penitentia di 
Santo Domenicko, Printed by Fra Domenico da Pistoia and Fra Fiero da Pisa, 
Florence, at the monastery of San Jacopo dt Ripoli, 1 477. 

La perfecta etamsummata hysteria e vita de sancta Catherma Senese virgine admit abile 
et desponsata da Ckristo Jesu. Printed by Johannes An ton! us de Honate, Milan, 
1489. 

La Vita della Serafica Sposa di Gtsh Cristo S. Caterina da Siena, Translated 
from the Latin Legend of Fra Raimondo by Bernardino Pecci, as vol. I. of 
Girolamo Gigli, V opere del/a Serafica Santa Caterina da Siena , Siena, 1707. 
Reprinted, Rome, 1866* 

(2) The Process* 

Processus quorundam die tor urn et attestation urn super celebritate memoriae ac virtuftbus f 
vita et doctrina beatae Catkarinae de Senis. Biblioteca Comunalc di Siena, MS, T. L 
3 ; Biblioteca Casana tense (Rome), MS. 2668. 

Processus amtestationum super samtitate et doctrina beatae Catkarinae dt Senis. 
Edmund us Martene ct Ursinus Durand, Veterum Scriptorum et Monumentorum, etc^ 
Ampllssima Collectio. Tom. vi. Paris, 1729. 

(3) The Supplement. 

Libellus de Supplement legendae prolixae Firgims Beatae Catkarinae de Senis. By 
Fra Tommaso CafFarini, Biblioteca Comunale di Siena, MS, T. L 2 ; Biblioteca 
Casanatense (Rome), MS. 2360. 

Supplement alia vulgata leggenda di S. Caterina da Siena. Translated from the 
Latin of Fra Tommaso by P. Arabiogio Ansano Tantucci, as vol, V* of GiglTs 
edition of the Opere, Lucca, 1754. Reprinted, Rome, 1866, 1 

(4) The Minor Legend. 

Epitome vitae beatae Caterinae de Senis , per fratrem Thomam eiusdem civitat'ts ct 
ordinis praedicatorum. In the Sanctuarium of Boninus Mombrttius, vol. I., Milan , 
1479. 

La admirabile legenda de la seraphica vergine et del sposo eterno Jesu benigno 

1 The reference! in the tcit of the prcicnt volume are to the Roman reprint of 1866, 

423 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

pecu/iarmente dilecta sposa t Sancta Catherine da Stent. End of fifteenth century ; 
probably Milan. A copy in the British Museum. 

Lcggenda minore di S, Caterina da Siena e lettere del suoi dbcepoH. Edited by 
F, Grottanelli. Bologna, 1 868. 

(5) The Letters. 

Latere manosiritte di S, Caterina da Siena e di a/tri Beati % raccolte da//* abate Luigt 
de Angelis, Biblioteca Comunale di Siena, MS. T. iil, 3. 

Other manuscripts. 1 Rome : Biblioteca Casanatcnse, MSS. 292 and 2422 ; 
Biblioteca Vaticana, Cod. Vat. Lat. 939; Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuelc, 
MS. 102 (MS. S. Pant. 9). Florence: Biblioteca Nazionale, MSS, Palatini, 
56-60 ; cl. viii. MSS. 1270 and 1 380, cl. xxxv, MSS. 187 and 199, cl. xxrviti. 
MS. 130; Biblioteca Rtccardiana, MSS. 1303, 1345, 1678. British Museum: 
Harleian MS. 3480. 

Epistole uti/i e divote de la beata e seraphica vergine Sancta Chaterina da Siena de/ 
samto or dine de la penitentia de miser sancto Domenuo, spot a singular e de/ sa/vatore 
nostra miser Jesu Christo. Printed by Giovanni Jacomo FontanesL Bologna, 
1492. 

Epistole devottssime de Sancta Catharina da Siena, Collected by Fra Bartolomeo 
da Alzano da Bergamo. Printed by Aldo Manuxio, Venice, 1500. 

Epistole et orationi della seraphica vergine santa Catharina da Siena, Venice, 
Federico Toresano, 1548. 

Lettere devottssime del/a beata vergine santa Caterina da Siena, nuovamente am 
tutta la diligentia eke si ha potuto ristampate. Venice, u al segno della Speranza," 
1562. 

Lettere etc, [same title]. Venice, Domenico Farri, 1584. 

& Epistole della Serafica Fergine S. Caterina da Siena, With the annotations of 
Padre Federigo Burlamacchi, Vols. II. and III. of GigH, L* opere della Serafica 
Santa Caterina da Siena. Lucca, 172 1, and Siena, 171 3. 

Le Lettere di S. Caterina da Siena, Edited by Niccol6 Tommaseo. 4 vols. 
Florence, i860. 

(6) The Dialogue. 

// Libro facto per divina reveladone de la venerabile et admirabile vergine beata 
Katerina da Siena, Biblioteca Vaticana, Cod. Barb, Lat, 4063 (formerly Barbenm, 
xlvi. s). 

// Libro detto Dialogo del/a venerabile vergine et sposa di Jesu Cristo, Sancta Caterina 
da Siena, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS. 1267. 

Libro de la divina procidentia compos to in vulgar e da la seraphica vergine santa 
Chaterina da Siena. [Bologna, Baldassarc Azzoguidi, 1472.] 

El libro de la divina doctrina revellata a qucl/a gkriosa et sanctissima vergine sancta 
Caterina da Siena, Naples, Karl Bone bach, 1478. 



1 This is not intended a 1 a complete list of MSS. of the Letter^ but eimply of thote used 
the prcient work. The nine applies to the MSS. cited of the Dialogo. 

424 




Diakgo de la seraphica virgin/! sancta Catherina da Siena de la div'tna providentia. 
'Venice, Matteo Capcasa, 1494. 

Dtalogus Seraphic* ac Dive Catharine de Senis cum nonnul/is aliis orationibus. 
Brescia, Bernardinus de Misintis, 1496. 

Dialogp de la seraphic a vergine sancta Catharina da Siena, el qual profindissimamente 
tracta de la divina providentia. Venice, Cesarc Arrivabeno, I 5 17. 

D. Cathaftnae Senensis virginis sancttssimae Dialogi, a D. Ray m undo a Vineis 
Capuano ex Italtco in Latinum convent. Cologne, 1 60 1 . 

// Dialogs deila Serafica Santa Caterina da Siena , compos to in volgare dalla 
medesima r essendo Let, mentre dettava at suoi Scrittori, rapita in singolare eccesso ed 
astrazione di mente. Vol. IV. of Gigli, U opere, Siena, 1707. Reprinted, Rome, 
1866. 



\ 



B. SELECTED GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 



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Baluze, E. Vttae Paparum Avenionensium. 2 vols. Paris, 1693. 

Bartholomaeus Senensis. Vita Bead Petri Petroni. Siena, 1619. 

Bartholomaeus Senensis. De Vita et moribus Beati Stephani Senensis Cartusiani. 
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Belcari, Fco, La Vita del Beato Giovanni Colombini da Siena, fondatore delP 
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Bcnvcnuto da Imola. Comentum super Dantis Aldigherii Comoediam. Ed. 
W. W. Vernon and J. P. Lacaita, 5 vols. Florence, 1887. 

Bianco, El. Laudi sptrttuali del Bianco da Siena. Ed. T. Bini, Lucca, 1851. 

Boulay (Du), C. E. Historia Universitatis Paristensis. Tom. iv. (1 300-1400), 
Paris, 1668, 

Bridget, St. Revelationes caelestes seraphic ae mairis S. Birgittae Suecae Sponsae 
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Caffarini, Tommaso [and Bartolommeo di Domenico], Tractatus super in- 
formation originis et processus ac plenariae approbationis et confirmationis Fratrum et 
Sororum ordinis de Poenitentia S. DomimcL And : Historia discipiinae regularis 
instauratae in coenobiis Venetis ordinis Praedtcatorum. In Flaminio Cornaro, Eccles'tae 
Venetae antiquis monumentis illustratae, vol. VII. Venice, 1749. 

Canestrini, G. Documenti per servire alia storia della Mifizta Italiana dal XI I L 
secolo al XVI. (Archivio Storico Italuno, series I., vol. xv.). Florence, 185 1. 

Capecclatro, Alfonso. Storia di S. Caterina da Siena e del Papa to del sua tempo. 
4th edition. Siena, 1878. 

Capponi, Gino (the elder). // Tumulto de 3 Ciompi. Ed. G. Tortoli. 
Florence, 1858. 

425 



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Stork della Repuhbhca & Firenze, Vols. I, and II. Florence, 



.ronwa 



Capponi, Gino 
1888. 

Cardella, L. Mcmorie storiche de* Cardinali. Vol, II. Rome, 1793. 

Carpellini, D. C. F, Gli Assempri di Fra Fil'tppo da Siena* Siena, 1864. 

Chronicles. Cronica di Bologna, by Fra Bartolommeo della Pugliola ; Cronica 
Sauese, by Agnolo di Tura and Neri di Donato ; Cronica di Pba ; in Muran 
Rer. It. Script^ vols, xviii. and xv., Milan, e 73 1» 1729. Cronicon Sitm/urn tm 
authorise ed. J, dc Blasiis (Socicta Napolcuna di Storia Patria), Naples, 1887 

Colombini, Giovanni. See Letters. 

Corazzini, G. O. / Ciompi : cronarhe e documents. Florence, 1887, 

Crcighton, M. A History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to Mr Sack of 
Rome. Vol* L London, 1897. 

Den in e, H. S. Chartularium Unhersitatis Parisiensis. Tom. iii. Paris, 1894. 

Diario d* Anonmo Fiorentino daW anno 1358 al 1389. Edited by Alessamdro 
Gherardi. (Document! di Storia Iuliana pubblicati a cura dclla R. DepuUzione 
di Storia Patria per le provincie di Toscana, dell* Umbria, e delle Marche, vol. 
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Diuma/i detti del Duca di Monteleone. Ed. N. F, Faraglia. (Societa Napolcuna 
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Douglas, R. Ling ton. A History 0/ Siena. London, 1902. 
^ Drane, Augusta Theodosia. The History of St. Catherine of Siena and her 
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Ferrcro, E. Di un codice delle Lettere di Santa Caterina da Siena. (Atti della 
R. Accademta delle Scienzc di Torino, vol. XV.) Turin, 1880. 

Flavigny, Comtesse de. Sainie Brigitte de Snide ; sa Vie* set RMlations ei jot 
(Euvre. Parts, 1892. 

Frigerio, Paolo. Vita di S. Caterina da Siena. Rome, 1656. 

Gayet, Louis. Le Grand Schisme d* Occident d*apres Us documents contemj 
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Gigli, Girolamo. Vocaholario Cateriniano. Lucca, 1760. 

Gobelin us Persona, Cosmodromium t hoc est f Chronicon Universale usque 
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Gherardi, Alessandro. La Guerra dei Fiorentini con Papa Gregorio XI detta k 
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Guidini, Cristofano. Memorte di Ser Cristofam di Galgano Guidini da Siena 
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426 







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Heywood, William. P alio and Font*. London, 1904. 

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Lettere del B. Giovanni Cokmbin't da Siena. Ed. A. Bartoli, Lucca, 1856. 

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Rome, 1845. 

Lettere del discepoli di S. Caterina. See A {4). 

Lettere di Santt i Beati Fiorentini. Ed. A. M. Biscioni. Florence, 1736. 

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1903. 

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Maimbourg, L. Histoire du Grand Schisme tPOccident 2 vols. Paris, 
1678-80. 

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1905. 

427 



INDEX 


ACCOR1MBONI, Gadda, podesta of Siena, 


Appiano (da), Jacopo, 389 


2IO 


Aquila, Bishop Clement of, murdered 


Agazzari, Fra Filippo, his Assempri % 95, 


by Urban VI, 397 


123, 124, 161 


Aragon, Cardinal of. See Luna 


Agnello (dell*), Giovanni, Doge of Pisa, 


, James of (of Majorca), 32, 103 n. 


40,69 


- — , Peter of, Friar, 62, 193 ; his revela- 


Agnese (Agnesa), Beata, of Monte* 


tion about the Schism, 312/1, 


puleiano, 123, 125 


Arzocchi, Nigi di Doecio, 89 


* t Monna, xiv, 172 ; Catherine's 


Aycelin dc Montaigu, Gilles, Cardinal, 


letters to her, 286, 373, 374, 416 n. f 


182, 190, 194 ; his sudden death, 317 


417,418 


Azzoguidi, Taddeo, 160 


Agnolo di Tura, his account of the 




pestilence, 4, 5 


Badoara, Fra Bonaventura, 138, 259 ; 


Aigrcfeuille {de), Guillaume, Cardinal, 


made Cardinal, 2S5 j a link between 


255, 261-263, 266, 271 


Petrarca and Catherine, 376 ; mur- 


Alberti, Benedetto, 232, 238 


dered, 376 ». 


Albizzeschi, Bernardino, Fra (Saint), 


Bar (de), Jean, 265, 279 


403 


Barbadori, Donato, his embassies, 148, 


Albizzi, Piero, 77, 235, 237, 238 


149, 155, 163, 164, 223, 233, 239; is 


Alhkzo (di), Pietro, of Pisa, 130 


beheaded , 328 


Albomoz (de), Egidio, Cardinal, 30, 40, 


Barbiano (da), Alberigo, 307 ; wins battle 


41, 6a, 65, 80 


of Marino, 308 ; Catherine's letter to 


1 Gomez, 41, 102, 150, 157, 175, 180, 


him, 310, 311 ; besieges Urban VI in 


189, 199 


Nocera, 396 


Aleocon (de), Philippe, Cardinal, 286 


Bardi, Alessandro, 145 


Alete {de), Pietro Amelia, his Itinera- 


Baronte, Fra, his contestation, 51 


rtum, 195, 200 


Bartolommea della Seta, Catherine's 


Alexander V, Pope (Peter Philargis), 


letter to, 374 


402, 403 


Bartolommeo di Domenico, Fra, 


Altoviti, Stoldo, 203, 230,, 233, 236 


Catherine's second confessor, his 


Amiens, Cardinal of. See Grange 


works, ix, xi ; letter from Catherine 


Andrea, Monna, 90, 91 


to him, 5t, 52; joins her fellowship, 


- da Lucca, hermit, 294, 295, 297 


53 ; his doubts. 54, 55 ; brings Laz- 


del Conte, 204 n. 


zarino to her, 56, 57 ; his account of 


di Vanni, painter and politician, 


her trance, 83, 84 ; serves the sick in 


90: Catherine's letters to him, 374, 


the pestilence, 123, 124 ; accompanies 


375 


Catherine in her journeys, 128-132, 


Andrew of Hungary, first husband of 


171, 178, 213, 215 ; offends Urban VI, 


Queen Giovanna, 31, 32 


271 ; accompanies Catherine to Rome, 


Anjou, Louis, Duke of, intercourse with 


288, 320, 325 ; his last intercourse with 


Catherine, 185, 186, 195 ; adheres to 


her, 348, 349 ; one of her literary 


Clement VII, who invests him with 


executors, 338, 353 ; aids the reform 


the kingdom of Adria, 279, 280, 283, 


of the Dominican order, 388 


307, 322 | attempts conquest of Naples, 


of Ferrara, Fra, ix 


395* 396 


of Ravenna, Don. See Serafini 


Antelta (delF), Alessandro, 163, 179, 18 1, 


Beatrice, l ; compared with Catherine, 


204, 232, 233 


1 8, 53, 54,85, 126*. 


Antonio da Nizza, Augustinian of 


Beaufort (de), Guillaume Roger, Count, 


Lecceto, 95, 98, 294, 295 ; Catherine's 


194 


letters to him, 295, 296-298 


1 , Hugues Roger, Cardinal, 45 


4' 


29 



INDEX 



to him, 390 ; his happy death, 390 ; 
417,418*. 

, Piero di Donato, 172, 203 ; builds 

Catherine a house, 230 ; involved in 
the Guelf factions, 238, 239, 242 ; 
implicated in the conspiracy of Gian- 
nozzo< Sacchetti, 327, 328 ; Catherine's 
letters to him, 375 ; death in exile, 390 ; 
unpublished letter from Catherine to 
him, 4 j 8-420 

— , Ristoro di Piero, 172; his em- 
bassies, 190, 199 ; urges rejection 
of papal terms, 223 ; shares In the 
politics of the Parte Guelfa, 231, 236, 
^37, 238; his house burnt* 239 ; 
declared a magnate, 242 ; Catherine's 
letters to him, 375 ; death, 390 

Carrara (da), Francesco, Lord of Padua, 
too, 324 

Casini, Francesco (" Maestro Fran- 
cesco da Siena' 1 ), J 83, 258; his 
testimony on the Schism, 269, 306 n* ; 
letter to the Signoria, 321, 322 ; 
corresponds with both Petrarca and 
Catherine, 376 

Castellani, Michele, 179, 181, 204 

Castiglionchio (da), Lapo, 235, 237, 238, 

242, 327, 395 

Caterina dello Spedaluccio, 215 

di Ghetto, 53 

Catherine of Siena* St. Contempor- 
ary materials for her life, vii-xi ; MSS. 
and text of her letters, xii-xiv ; 
editions of her DiaI&go y xiv, xv ; 
treatise on Consummate Perfection 
attributed to her, xv, xvi ; her birth, 
1 ; her testimony to the corruption of 
the times, 3, 5 - f family and early life, 
6-io ; takes the Dominican habit, 11, 
12; her austerities, 12, 13; work of 
expiation, 14, 15; her visions and 
doctrine, 15-18; suffers diabolical 
temptations, 19-21 ; familiarity with 
Christ, 21 ; reading and flowers, 

22 ; her psychological condition, 22, 

23 ; spiritual espousals, 24-26 ; her 
predecessors, 42 ; leaves her cell, 47 ; 
work and humility, 47-49'; persecution, 
50-52 ; her first disciples, 52-58 ; 
letter to Fra Lazzarino, 58, 59 j loses 
her father, 60 ; relations with her 
brothers, 71-73; her gifts and 
character, 81 ; mystical experiences, 
82-84 ; ^r disciples, 84-90 ; accused 
of unchastity, 90 ; receives a divine 
injunction, 91 ; converts Fra Gabriele 
and Maestro Giovanni Tantucci, 92- 
94 j relations with the hermits of 



Lecceto, 94-98; other followers, 98, 
99 ; converts two condemned men, 
100; enters public life, 101, 105 ; 
letters to the papal legate and vicar 
apostolic, 106-112 ; work in Siena, 
113, 114; relations with the Visconti, 
115-117 ; crusading enthusiasm, 118; 
first visit to Florence, 120, 121 ; 
labours for the plague -stricken, 122- 
124 ; solicitude for Fra Simone, 124 ; 
at Montepukiano, 125, 126 ; visited 
by Alfonso da Vadaierra, 128; first 
visit to Pisa, 129, 130 ; correspondence 
with El Bianco, 131-133 ; receives the 
Stigmata, 133-135 ; at Gorgona, 135, 
136 j her letters for the Crusade, 138- 
141 ; letter to Hawkwood, 144; her 
mission to Lucca, 146-148 ; remains 
at Pisa, 148, 151 ; letter to the Anziani 
of Lucca, 151, 152 j letter to Gregory 
XI, ^53-155; to Nkcolo Soderini, 
157, 158 ; implores the Pope to make 
peace, come to Rome, and reform the 
Church, 158, 159, 162, 163 ; her vision 
ofthe cross and olive-branch, 164-166; 
offers to mediate between the Pope 
and the Florentines, 166-168; 
receives Stefano Maconi, 168-170; 
sends Neri to Avignon, 170, 171 ; her 
second visit to Florence, 171, 172, 175 ; 
accepts mission to Avignon, 176, 177 ; 
relations with Gregory and the Floren- 
tine ambassadors, 178-182; speaks 
plainly to the Pope, 182, 183 ;. opposed 
by the papal court, 183, 184; relations 
with the Duke of Anjou, 185, 186; 
struggle with the French cardinals, 
186-188 ; letter to Buonaccorso di 
Lapo, 191-193 ; warns Gregory against 
a forged letter, 193, 194 ; at Toulon 
and Varazze, 195 ; at Genoa, 195-197 ; 
returns to Siena, 198 ; writes to the 
Pope at Corneto, 199; pleads for 
Luigi delle Vigne, 199 n, ; her attitude 
towards the temporal power, 201, 202 ; 
sends Stefano to Florence, 203 ; 
supports the Sienese ambassadors, 
203, 204 ; for peace at any price, 206, 
207 ; at Belcaro, 208 \ letter and 
promise to Francesco Malavolti, 209, 
210; tenderness for the prisoners, 2to, 
211 ; relations with the Salimbeni, 2 12, 
213 ; her apostolic labours in the 
Sienese contado, 2 1 3-2 1 8 ; parts from 
Raimondo, 218 ; relations with rene- 
gade religious, 21 8, 219 ; letter to Fra 
Simone, 220, 221 ; letters to the Trinci, 
22 1 -223 ; to Fra Raimondo on the 



431 



INDEX 



Raimondo's mission to him, 316, 317 ; 
376 
— — VI, King of France, 395, 398 

I, King of Naples, 30, 14] n* 

II, King of Navarre, 280, 316 

of Durazzo, the elder, 32 

of DuratEO (" Carlo della Pace"), 

afterwards Charles III of Naples, 32, 
316, 324; Catherine's letter to him, 
325 ; intrigues with Florentine exiles, 
326-328 ; conquers Naples, 395, 396 ; 
his death, 396 

Mattel, extolled by Dante, 31 

Robert, King of Hungary, 31 

(Karl Ulfsson), son of Birgitta of 

Sweden, 44, 77, 102, 103 
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 2 
CJ&nanges (de), Nicolas, 362 n. 
Clement IV, Pope (Guy Foulquois), 187 

Vj Pope (Bertrand de Goth), 27, 28 

VI, Pope (Pierre Roger de Beau- 
fort), 2 ; character of his pontificate, 
27, 28, 30 ; Birgitta's revelations 
concerning him, 29, 45, 79 n. 

VII, Pope or Anti pope. See Geneva 

Colomba, Beata, of Rieti, 406 

, Monna, of Lucca, 147 

Colombini, Biagia Cerretani, 42-44 

, Catering 7 n. 

, Giovanni, 7 ; institutes theGesuati, 

42-44 ; 59 ; his relations with Urban 
V, 63, 64 ; dies, 64 ; letter to the 
Signoria of Siena, 65 ; 90 ^,9611., 131 

, Lisa, See Benincasa 

, Matteo, disciple of Catherine, 59 

Colon n a, Agapito, 264, 2 86, 404 
Condulmer, Gabriele, afterwards Pope 

Eugenius IV, 401 
Conrad, friar, of Prussia, 387 
Consiglio, Jew of Padua, 373 
Correr, Angelo, Bishop of Castello, 

» Catherine's letter to bim, 376 ; elected 
Pope, 400. See Gregory XII 
« — ~, Antonio, Cardinal, 401 
Corsini, Filippo, 233, 238, 245 
, Piero, Cardinal of Florence, 77, 

121, 159, l8l, 184, 186, 20O, 245, 
254 ft. ; his character, 256, 258 ; his 
conduct in the election of Urban VI, 
261 -264, 266, 268 ; attempts to keep 
neutral, 273, 275=279, 290, 304; 
Catherine's letter to him and his 
colleagues, 304-306 ; joins the 
Clementines, 306 ». 

Cosenza, Archbishop of (Nicola 
Brancaccio), 279, 289, 312 

Courtenay, William, Bishop of 
London, 189 #.» 286 



Cros (de), Jean, Cardinal of Limoges, 
255, 262; proposes Bartolommeo 
Prignano for Pope, 263 ; flies to Sanr* 
Angelo r 266 ; quarrels with Urban 
VI, 270 ; proposes Robert of Geneva, 
278 

Pierre, Archbishop of Aries, 190, 

271, 273>277,289 

Daniella, Suora, Catherine's letters 

to, 284, 285, 288, 374 
Dante, vii, 1-5 ; resemblance between 

the story of Catherine and his Vita 

Nuova^ 8,9, 53, 54 ; analogies between 

the Dimna Com media and Catherine's 

Dialogs 356, 363, 365, 366, 377, 381 ; ! 

her possible knowledge of his works, 

367 ; quoted, passim. 
Dini, Giovanni, 145, 171, 236 
Domenico (di), Bartolommeo. See 

Bartolommeo 
Dominic, St., Catherine's visions of, 10, 

21, 25, 165; her "Spaniard,* 1 148, 

319; in the Dialog 366, 367 
Domjnici, Giovanni, Fra, afterwards 

Cardinal of Ragusa, 130, 387, 388, 

389, 401, 402, 404 
Domitiila, letter from Giovanni dalle 

Celle to, 174, 175 
Donati, Piero, 236 
Duguesclin, Bertrand, 62 

Easton, Adam, cardinal, 397 
Edward III, King of England, 2 
Elias of Toulouse (Erie de RaimondX 
master-general of the Dominicans, 
3 n. t 120, 2i 8, 284, 366 n. t 386-388. 
Elizabeth of Bavaria, writes to Catherine, 

117 
of Poland, Catherine's letter to, 

Estaing (de), Pierre, Cardinal of Bourges, 
74, 77 , 80, 102, 106; Catherine's 
letters to him, 106-1 10 ; his Bolognese 
legation, 108 »., 114, 117, n8 ; his 
enlightened politics, 182, 184, 186, 
187 ; negotiates with the Romans, 
200; his death, 229 

Este. See Ferrara and Trinci 

Ferdinand, King of Portugal, 280, 316 
Ferrara, Marquis of (Niccolo II 

d'Estc), 31, 65, i6o t 161, 190, 221 
Ferrer, Boniface, prior-general of the 

Carthusians, 400, 403 

, Vincent, St., 284, 398, 403, 404 

Fevre (le), Jean, 277 n., 317 //. 
Fidati, Simone, Augustinian friar, 137 



28 



433 



INDEX 



Fina, St., 14 

Flandrin, Pierre, Cardinal of Sant 1 
Eustachio, 255, 266, 275, 289, 312 

Flete, William, the " Bachelor," Cath- 
erine's revelation to him, 17-19; 
becomes her disciple, 95, 96; Cath- 
erine's letters to him, 96-98, 140; at 
Belcaro, 208; Catherine's letter to him 
from Florence, 235 ; summoned to 
Rome, 294, 295 ; refuses to leave his 
wood, 296-298 ; his work for Urban 
VI, 298, 300 ; in charge of Catherine's 
Sienese disciples, 386 

Folgore da San Gimignano, his sonnets, 

35 

Fonte (della), Palrmero, 7, 9 

, Tommaso, Catherine's first 

confessor, 9, 10, 15, 21, 22, 50, 52-54, 
56, 82, 89, 92, 93, 123, 129 ; letter from 
Catherine to him, 148 ; shares her 
labours in the contado, 213, 215 ; one 
of her literary executors, 338, 353 

Foresi, Madonna Paola, Abbess of 
Santa Bon da, 43, 63, 64 

Foresta (della), Guido, 327 

Francesco di Naddo, Captain of the 
People of Siena, 100 

di Pippino, Florentine tailor, xiv, 

172 ; shelters Catherine, 242 ; her 
letters to him, 286-288, 326, 374 ; his 
fidelity to her memory, 391 j unpub- 
lished letters from her to him, 416- 
418 

Francis of Assisi, St.,vii, 1 ; Catherine's 
devotion to him, 58, 59 : his Stigmata, 
134 j allusions to him in the Diahgo x 
265, 266 

Frescobaldi, Leonardo, 393, 417 

Gabriele da Volterra, friar minor, 

92-94 

Gabrielli (de"), Cante, 326, 327 

Gaetani, Onorato, Count of Fondi, 252, 
254; quarrels with Urban VI, 271, 
276, 279 ; Catherine's letter to him, 
282, 283 ; anathematized, 289 ; de- 
prived of his states, 399 

Gambacorti, Andrea di Gherardo, 36 

-, Andrea di Piero, 270 

, Bartolommeo, 40 

p Benedetto di Piero, 182, 389 

, Francesco, 36, 40 

, Gherardo, 69 

— -, Lorenzo di Piero, 389 

, Lotto, 36, 40 

, Piero, 36, 40, 69 ; his magnan- 
imity, 70 j Catherine's letter to him, 
129; welcomes her to Pisa, 129; 



attempts to keep neutral between the 
Church and Florence, 146, 154, 155, 
198, 22 f ; is murdered, 389 
, Tora (the Beata Chiara), Cather- 
ine's letters to her, 287, 389 ; her later 
life, 389, 390 
Gandelin, Pierre, 253* 271, 289* 308 
Gasparo, Fra, Catherine's letter to, 

381 «. 
Geneva, Robert of, Cardinal, 175, 180, 
189 ; orders the massacre of Cesena, 
205 ; 22 1, 222 n. \ in the conclave and 
after, 255, 263, 264, 266, 269, 270, 271, 
274, 275 ; elected Pope or Ami pope 
Clement VII, 278-280, 286; 289, 305 ; 
confers kingdom of Adria upon 
Louis of Anjou, 307 ; is driven from 
Naples, 312-314 ; his death, 398 
Genoa, Doge of (Domenico Campo- 

fregoso), 156, 191, 196 
Ghelli, Niccolb, 88, 89 
Giacoppi, Bartolommeo, 156 
Giovanna I, Queen of Naples, 31, 32, 61, 
66; relations with Birgitta, 102-104; 
corresponds with Catherine about the 
Crusade, 139-141 ; supports Gregory 
XI, 156, 160, 189, 190, 199, 224, 225; 
first adheres to Urban, 268, 277 ; then 
declares for Clement, 277-279, 283 j 
Catherine's letters to her, 286, 290, 
291, 311, 312 ; receives Clement 
313; her feigned conversion, 3 1 3-3 1 6, 
324 ; Catherine's appeal to her, 325, 
373; deposed and murdered, 395, 
396 
Giovanna di Capo, 215, 230, 288, 299 
Giovanni da Parma, Catherine's letter 
to, 287, 376 n. 

da Salerno, Augustinian friar, 17511., 

178 
— di Gano, Abbot of Sant' Antimo, 

208, 2! 3, 21 6, 32O, 321, 350 

di Guccio, Augustinian friar, 95 

di Mone, 145 

Gobelinus Persona, 332 n. 
G on salvo, Fra, his testimony concerning 
the Schism, 254 »-, 257, 270, 372, 274, 

275 
Gonzaga, Lodovico, Lord of Mantua, 

181, 185, 272 
Gori, Cccca, Catherine's companion, 

52,92, 123, 129, 178, 213, 215, 216*., 

288 

Giustina, 213, 215 

Grange (de la), Jean, Cardinal of 

Amiens, 198 ; at Sarzana, 232, 256 ; 

his hostility to Urban, 270, 271, 277, 

289, 316 



434 



INDEX 



Gregory XI, Pope (Pierre Roger de 
Beaufort), 79, 80 ; his relations with 
Birgitta, 101-105 » sends to question 
Catherine, 1 10, 1 1 1 ; desires a Crusade, 
117, 11 8, 128, 138; quarrels with 
Florence, 142, 143, MS* 1 -; sends 
Catherine 10 Lucca, 146 ; announces 
his return to Rome, 149 ; his new 
cardinals, 153 ; letters from Catherine 
to him, 153-156; appeals to the 
Italians, 1 56 ; his process against the 
Florentines, 156, 157 ; Catherine's 
exhortations to him, 158, 159, 162, 
163 ; puts Florence under interdict, 
164; receives Raimondo, 167 ; letters 
from Catherine to him, 170, 171, 176, 
i?7 ; puts peace into her hands, 178— 
182 ; listens to her counsels, 182, 183 ; 
his vacillations, 185-188, 190, 193 ; 
leaves Avignon, 194 ; at Genoa, 195 ; 
last interview with Catherine, 196 ; 
goes to Rome, 198-200 ; the Saint's 
appeals to him, 201-204, 206-208 j his 
obstinacy, 223, 224 ; angry with 
Catherine, 224-226 ; sends her to 
Florence, 227-229 ; his death, 233, 
252, 253 

XI 1, Pope (Angelo Correr), 400- 

402, 404 

Griftoni, Leonardo, minister-general of 
the Franciscans, 289. «., 387, 396 

Grimoard (de), Anglico, Cardinal of 
Avignon, 63, 64, 77, 79, 80, 106, 194, 
256, 278, 291 

Guillaume. See Urban V 

Guccio Gucci, 145 

Gudmarsson* UJf, 24 

Guelfaccio (di), Tommaso, converted by 
Giovanni Col om bint, 43 ; joins Cather- 
ine, 59, 89, 92, 93 ; his missions, 203, 
217 

Guernieri, Jacomo, 71 

GuLcciardini, Luigi di Piero, 243, 247 

Gnidini, Cristofano di Gano, translates 
Catherine's Dta/ago, xiv, xv ; his 
memoirs, 89, 90, 96, 98, 128/*. ; with 
Catherine at Florence, 230, 231, 239- 
241 ; letter to Neri, 300 ; last days, 403 

Gutalebraccia, Giovanni, 130 

Hawkwood, John, 62, 74, 127, 142-144; 
Catherine's letter to him, 144, 245 ; 
sacks Facnza, 160, 161 ; at Cesena, 
205, 206 n> ; adheres to the league, 
221 ; aids Stefani Maconi, 392//. 

Henry VI I, Roman Emperor, 2, 326 

II, King of Castile, 280 

Ill, King of Castile, 398 



Imola (da), Benvenuto Rambaldi, 2, 3, 

28 if., 108 «,, 309 n. 
Inghen (de), Marsile, 273 
Innocent VI, Pope (Etienne d'Albret), 

29, 37, 4', 61 

VII, Pope (Cosma Meliorati), 400 

Itri (da), Jacopo, Archbishop of Otranto 

and Patriarch of Constantinople, letter 

from Catherine to him, 15511; his 

sermon against Urban VI, 275, 276 ; 

adheres to Clement VII, 2891*, 314, 

396 

Jacomo di Viva, Catherine's letter to, 

xii 

Manzi, Catherine's letter to, 113 

Jacopo da Padova, Olivet an monk, 

202 *r, 
Johannes V Palacologus, Emperor of the 

East, 74, 138 
John XXII, Pope (Jacques d'Euse), 27, 

173 

— XXIII, Pope (Baldassare Cossa), 

403i 4<>4 

of Bohemia, King, 2 

of Basle, Augustinian friar, 228 

— of the Cross, St., 24, 25, 100 
Juan I, King of Castile, 280, 316 

Ladislaus, King of Naples, 401 

Lagier, Bertrand, Cardinal of Glandeves, 
198, 255, 262, 264, 312, 316 

Lagina, Monna, 147 

Lando di Francesco, his letter to the 
Signoria of Siena, 288, 289 

Landoccio (di), Neri. See Pagliaresi 

Lazzarino da Pisa, friar minor, con- 
verted by Catherine, 56-58 ; his 
correspondence with her, 58, 59 

Leonardo da Firenze, master- general of 
the Dominicans, 389 

Limoges, Cardinal of. See Cros 

Lisolo, Abate, 325 

Lorenzetti, Ambrogto, 4 

Louis, King of Hungary and Poland, 
"the Great," 32, 33, 62, 117, UK M'» 
160, 191 ; adheres to Urban, 280,300, 
324 ; Catherine's letter to him, 324, 
325 ; his death, 396 

Luca di Benvenuto, 393 n. 

Lucera, Bishop of (Thomas de Acerno), 
25211,, 260 n. 

Lucio, Roman disciple of Catherine, 

Lucio di Lando, Count, 222, 224, 321 
Luigi, Fra, Bishop of Assisi, on the 

Schism, 253 n. 
Luigi of Taranto, 32 



435 



INDEX 



Lima (deX Pedro, Cardinal of Aragon, 
153, 184, 186; Catherine's first letter 
to him, 234 ; his share in the election 
of Urban VI, 256, 257, 259, 260, 263- 
268 ; his reluctance to join the Schism, 
271, 272, 274 ; view of the Italian car- 
dinals, 279 ; Catherine's second letter 
to him* 281 ; his Clementine zeal, 284, 
290, 317, 318 ; elected Pope or Anti- 
pope Benedict XIII, 308 ; his obstinacy, 
400-402 ; deposed and condemned, 
404 ; death and character, 40$ 

L yd wine de Schiedam, St, 14 

MACON 1, Corrado, 168, 169, 303 

, Giovanna, 168 ; Catherine's letter 

to her, 197 ; 303 

, Stefanodi Corrado, viii, x-xii, 13*.; 

Raimondo appeals to him, 99 ; joins 
Catherine's fellowship, 168-170; ac- 
companies her to Florence and Avig- 
non, 171, 178, 179, 183, 184 j at Genoa, 
196, 197; at Siena, 198; Catherine's 
envoy to the Eight, 202, 203 ; with 
her in the Sienese contado and at 
Florence, 213, 230, 236 ; writes in her 
name to Dom Guillaume Rainaud, 
284 ; detained at Siena, 288, 300, 301 ; 
letters from Catherine to him, 302, 
303 ; urges the government to help 
Urban, 321, 322; at Rome, 349, 350, 
352 ; on Catherine's writing, 371 ; her 
secretary, 372 ; her letters to him, 374; 
enters the Carthusian order, 30,1-393 ; 
elected prior-general, 393 ; hts letter 
to the fathers of the Grande Char- 
treuse, 399, 400 ; supports Council of 
Pisa, 402, 403 j resigns his office and 
returns to Siena, 403 j prior of Certosa 
of Pa via, 403, 404 j interest in Fra 
Bernardino, 403 ; his happy death, 
405 

Magnus II, King of Sweden, 44 

Malatesta, Galeotto, 41, 62 

-, Malatesta, 41, 66-68 

, Perfetto, Abbot of Sassoferrato, 

317.318 

Malavolti, Francesco di Vanni, his con- 
testation, ix ; his account of his own 
conversion and others, 85-89, 92-94, 
1 13, 1 14 ; his relapse, 208 ; Catherine's 
letter to him, 209 ; her promise to 
him, 210; with her in the contado, 
213, 214; describes her method of 
dictating f 372 ; at Genoa, 393 ; his 
monastic life, 393, 394; letter to 
Tonimaso Caffarini, 394, 395 

, Orlando, 68, 8i, 112 **., 204 n. 



Malavolti, Niccoluccio, 393 

, Vanni (MesserX father of Fran- 
cesco, 66, 71 

Malesset (de), Guy, Cardinal of Poitiers, 
255, 266, 271, 275* 280 ; presides over 
the Council of Pisa, 402 

Malestroit (de), Jean, 289 

Manfredi, Astorre, 40 

Margherita of Naples, wife of Charles 
of Durazzo, 32, 316 

Marmoutier, Abbot and Cardinal of. Set 
Puy 

Marsili, Luigi, Augustinian friar, 299 

Martin V, Pope (Ottone Colonna), 404 

— , King of Aragon, 402 

Martinez, Alvarez, 274 

Martini, Simone, 6 

Maso di Neri, 236 

Matteino di Ventura, 69 

Matthias of Linkoping, 44 

Medici (dei), Salvestro, 236-238, 247 

Megalotti, Giovanni, 145 

Menendo, Fra, 318 

Michele di Lando, 248, 326 

Mogliano (da), Lodovico, Senator 
Siena, 112, 119, 120 

, Mitarella, Catherine's letter to, 

H3 

Montalais (de), Hugues, Cardinal of 
Brittany, 255, 263, 265, 266, 289 

Montefeltro (da), Antonio, 1 5 1 

, Buonconte, 363 n. 

Monte S. Maria (del), Marchesc, Fran- 
cesco, 199 ; Giovanni, 247, 248 ; Pietro, 
146, 190*. ; Uguccione, 199 

Montirac (de), Pierre, Cardinal of Pam- 
plona, 194, 258, 278 

Montjoie (de), Louis, 307, 308 

Murles (de), Pierre, 277 

Nardo di Giorgio, Roman bandarese, 
his testimony on the Schism, 258, 259, 
26t, 262, 265 n. 

Niccolo, the povero of Romagna, 288, 

373» 417 

di Mino, 92, 94 

Nieheim (von), Dietrich (Theodericus 

de Nyem), 258, 276, 277, 397 "■ 
Noccio di Vanni, 119, 120 
Noellet (de), Guillaume, Cardinal of 

Sant' Angelo, legate of Bologna, 119, 

127, 141-143, 160; conduct at the 

conclave, 255, 266 

Oleggio (da), Giovanni Visconti, 30, 

3't 4* 
Ordeiam", Francesco, 2, 40 
> Sinibaldo, 151 



436 







INDEX 



Gristano (da), Mariano, Judge of Ar- 
bor ea, 140 

Orsini^ Francesco! 185 

1 Giordano* 289, 308, 315 

, Jacopo, Cardinal of S* Giorgio in 

Velabro, 159, 181, 184, 186, 245 ; his 
alleged designs on the papacy, 252, 
256 ; his dubious conduct in the elec- 
tion of Urban VI, 261-266, 268, 269 ; 
attempted neutrality, 273, 275, 276, 
378, 279, 290, 304 ; his dying declar- 
ation, 306, 307 

, Nkcold, Count of Nola, 45, 63, 78, 

102, 105, 221, 313 

, Raimondello, son of the above, 

397 
Osimo (da), Niccolo, Catherine's letter 

to, 155 «. 
Otho of Brunswick, consort of Queen 

Giovanna, 185, 232, 277, 316, 395 
Otranto, Archbishop of* Set Itri 

Pagliaresi, Neri di Landoccio, trans* 
lates the Ltgtnda, viii ; becomes 
Catherine's spiritual son, 8$, 86, 89, 
92 ; accompanies her to Lucca, 146, 
147 n, ; her envoy to Avignon, 167- 
171 ; his illness at Genoa, 197 ; 19811., 
213 ; letters to him from 4I F* S." f 219, 
220 j with Catherine at Florence, 230, 
239; with her at Rome, 288; his 
c o r res pond e nee, 300-303, 321, 322; 
Catherine's envoy to Perugia, 323 ; 
and to Naples, 325 ; letter from 
Catherine to him there, 329 ; a student 
of Dante, 366, 367 ; one of her secre- 
taries, 372 ; friendship with Stefano 
Maconi, 391, 392 ; dies a hermit, 393 ; 
friendship with Francesco Malavolti, 

394 
Palagio (dal), Guido, 137, 174, 299, 300, 

39 i 
Palmerina. Suora, 47, 48, 50 
Paolino da Nola, hermit of Lecceto, 294, 

297 
Pavola, Monna, 175 *., 287, 288 n. % 416 
Paxzi, Giovanna, 372 
Pedro IV, King of Aragon, 280, 284 *., 

316, 3»7 
Pelagtus, Alvarus, on John XXII, 27 
PepoH, Galeazzo, 308 

, Romeo, 30 

Perez, Fernando, Dean of Tarascon, 266, 

267 
Peruzzi, Benedetto, 231, 327 

* , Bonifazio, 327 

, Simone, 232 

Pctra, Tommaso, apostolic protonotary, 



188 ; on the Schism, 260, 267; papal 
secretary, 338, 339 ; his injunctions to 
Catherine, 344 ; one of her literary 
executors, 338, 353 ; his loyalty to 
Urban VI, 398 

Petrarca, Francesco, vii, 1, 4, 5, 27 ; his 
picture of the pontificate of Clement 
VI, 28, 29; on Charles IV, 38; his 
relations with Urban V, 61, 62, 74- 
76, 79 m ; his death, 105 ; 1 10 **., 1 17, 
138, 141* 178, 183, 308; his letters 
compared with Catherine's, 376, 377 

Petriboni, Suor Caterina, 332, 351/1. 

Petroni, Pietro, il Beato, 42, 43, 98 

Piacenza (da), Cristoforo, his despatches, 
181, 185, 199, 268, 270*-, 272, 273 

Piccolomini, Gabriele, Catherine's dis- 
ciple, 8o„ 92, 213,219,288 

Pietro, priest of Semignano, Catherine's 
letter to, 112, 113 

Pietro di Giovanni Ventura, x, xii ; joins 
Catherine's fellowship, 114; sent by 
her to Siena, 216 ; her letters to him, 
300-302 

Pino (del), Lorenzo, Catherine's letter 

^, 375 
Prata (da), Pileo, Cardinal Archbishop 

of Ravenna, 286, 397 
Prignano, Bartolommeo. See Urban VI 

, Francesco, called Butillo, 395, 396 

Pruinis (de), Guido, Senator of Rome, 

254, 258 
Puy (du>, Ge*rard, Abbot of Marmoutier, 

his dealings with Birgitta, to2, 105 ; 

his government of Perugia, 106, 107 ; 

correspondence with Catherine, 110- 

112; oppression and treachery* 119, 

120, 141, 142, 145 ; besieged in Peru- 
gia, 150; made cardinal, 153, 155; 
accuses Cardinal Orsini, 252 ; con* 
duct in the Schism, 255, 265, 266, 
289 

Rainaud, Guillaume, prior-general of 
the Carthusians, 284, Z&7, 393i 399i 
400 

Ravignano, Andrea, 313 

Ricasoli, Angelo, Bishop of Florence, 

121, 171, 3 8 2*-i 3 8 3 * 
, Bettino, 236, 237 

Richard II, King of England, 280, 316, 

397 
Rienzo (di), Cola (Rienzi), 37, 40 
Robert of Geneva. Set Geneva 
Robert, King of Naples, 31, 32 
Rodhez, Bernard, Archbishop of Naples, 

103. 31x51 J 
Rostaing, Pierre, 271 



437 



INDEX 




Sacchetti, Franco, 206, 232, 327, 386, 

, Giannozio, his conversion and 

poetry, 231, 232 ; Catherine's solid- 
tude for him, 286, 326 ; his conspiracy 
and death, 326-328 ; unpublished letter 
of Catherine about him, 417, 418 
Salimbeni, Agnolino di Giovanni, 120, 
211-213 

, Andrea di Niccolo, 119, 120 

1 Benedetta, 212, 213, 215 

, Biancina, 212-214, 22 1, 222 

— -, Cione di Sandro, 68, 69, 120, 211- 

213 

, Giovanni di Agnolino, 38, 39, 66, 

212 

, Isa, 212, 213,215 

, Niccold, 68, 120 

, Pietro, 68, 69 

, Stricca, 212 

Salle (de la), Bernardon, 273, 289, 308 

Salutati, Coluccio, 155, 156^206, 279 

Salvetti, Angelo, friar minor, 58, 403 

Salvi di Pietro, Catherine's letter to, 
217, 218 

Salviati, Andrea, 145, 232 

Sangro (di), Gentile, Cardinal, 395 

Sano di Maco, 98 ; Catherine's letter to 
him on the peace, 246 

San Saturnino (da), Niccold, Dominican 
friar, 278, 284, 289 n, 

Sansedoni, Ambrogio, Beato, 95 

San Severino (da), Tommaso, 397 

> Ugo, 313 

Sam* Angelo, Cardinal of. Ste Noel let 

Sant' Eustachio, Cardinal of. See Flan- 
drin 

Santi, Fra, da Teramo, Catherine's dis- 
ciple, 98, 99, 122, 213, 230, 288 

Saracini, Alessa, Catherine's chief 
woman follower and imitator, 52, 84, 
92, loo, 129, 178, 213, 215, 216*.; 
Catherine's letters to her, 227, 235 ; 
with her in Rome, 288 ; Catherine 
dies in her arms, 350; 371 *., 372 ; 
her death, 386 

> Francesco, 84 

Savini, Nanni di Ser Vanni, 101, 208 

Scali, Giorgio, 328 

Scott i, Orietta, 195-1 97, 393 

Serafini, Bartolommeo, Carthusian (da 
Ravenna), his Contestation, ix, x ; 
Prior of Gorgona, 135, 136 ; his letter 
to Catherine, 270, 27 1 ; summoned to 
Rome, 293-296 ; at Pavia, 392 

Sigismund, King of the Romans, 404 

Siminetti, Bartolo, 238 

Simoncino, detto Bugigatto, 247 






Simone da Cortona, his Contestation, x, 
50, 51, 124, 125 ; correspondence with 
Neri, 219, 220; Catherine's letter to 
him, 220, 221 

Smeduccio (di), Bartolommeo, Lord of 
San Severino, 139, 140, 189, 190, 224 J 
unpublished letter from Catherine to 
him, 407-411 

Soderini, Costanxa, 375 »- 

, Niccold, 73, 121 ; Catherine's 

letter to him as prior, 1 57, 1 58 ; ex- 
communicated, 164 ; his efforts for 
peace, 171, 175, 203, 228-231, 236; 
his house destroyed and himself put 
under bounds, 238, 239, 242, 243 ; 
Catherine's letters to him, 375 ; dies 
in exile, 390 n. 

, Tommaso, 231, 239, 242, 390 «- 

Soldi, Matteo, 145 

Sortenac (de), Pierre, Cardinal of 
Viviers, 255, 260, 266 

Spinelli, Niccold, 156, 160, 277» 289 

Stefani, Marchionne di Coppo, on 
Catherine, 230, 231 ; on Giannozio 
Sacchetti, 232, 326-328 ; quoted, 
passim. 

Stroud, Benedetto, 190, 199 

, Carlo, 127, I7li 17a, 237, 238, 242, 

39° *■ 

, Laudamia, 172 

, Leonardo, 127 

— , Pazzino, 179, 181, 182, 190-192, 

204, 232 
, Tommaso, 145, 328 



Tancredi {da Massa), Felice, Augus- 
tinian friar, 95, 162, 166 #f. 

Tantucci, Giovanni (Terzo), **the 
Master," joins Catherine's fellowship, 
92-96 ; at Avignon, 162, 166 n. ; in 
Rome, 288, 296, 297, 320, 349. 352 ; 
one of her literary executors, 338, 353 

Tebaldeschi, Francesco, Cardinal of St. 
Peter's, 156, 200, 233, 245, 256; his 
fictitious election, 263, 265-267 ; ad* 
heres to Urban VI, 272, 277, 282, 316 

Tebaldi, Francesco, Carthusian of 
Gorgona, 135, 136 

TegHacci, Niccold, 7, 9 

Teresa, St., compared with Catherine, 

23, 24 

Thomas Aquinas, St., Catherine's de- 
votion to, 361, 363, 366, 371 

Tini, Niccold, prior of Lecceto, 95, 96 m^ 
97 

Toldo (di), Niccold, 210, 211, 363 m., 

379-381 



438 



^M 







INDEX 



Tolomei, Bernardo, founder of the Olive- 

tani, 4 

— , Franceses 84, 217 

, Ghinoccia, 84 

, Gucci o, 38 

, Jacomo di Francesco, 84 

, Jacomo di Sozzino, 300, 301 

, Lodovica di Granello, Catherine's 

letter to, 285 

, Matteo, Dominican friar, 84, 213, 

215, 217, 320 

, Rabe, 84, 217 

, Raimondo, Senator of Rome* 41 

— , Spinello, 213, 214 

Tommaso da Fermo, master-general of 
the Dominicans, 389, 402 

Trine i, Corrado, 221-223 

, Jacoma d'Este, 221 ; Catherine's 

letter to her, 222, 223 

, Trincio, 221-223 J probable refer- 
ence to him in the Dialogs 363 n* 

Tortelli, Cecco, 277 

Turenne (de), Vicomte, 175 

, Elys, 184 



Ubaldini, Ippolito, Catherine's letter 
to, 136 

Ugurghieri, Neri, 88, 89 

Unzio, Tommaso, Franciscan prophet, 
222 

Urban V t Pope (Guitlaume de Grimoard), 
his election, 61 ; comes to Italy and 
Rome, 62-67, 73» 74; letters from 
Petrarca to him, 74-76 ; his cardinals, 
77 ; receives Birgitta's revelations, 78, 
79 ; returns to Avignon and dies, 79 ; 
Catherine's reference to him, 81, 187, 

VI, Pope (Bartolommeo Prignano), 

184, 185, 233 ; Catherine's first letter 
to him, 243-245 ; makes peace with 
Florence, 245, 246, 249 ; his character, 
257-260 ; his doubtful election, 263- 
269 ; his rupture with the Sacred Col- 
lege, 273, 275, 276, 277 ; Catherine's 
enthusiasm for him, 282-286 ; makes 
new cardinals, 285, 286 ; summons 
Catherine to Rome, 287-290 ; sum- 
mons the M servants of God," 293-296 ; 
hires the Compagnia di San Giorgio, 
307, 308 j foiled by the Romans, 308, 
309 ; enters the Vatican, 314 ; Cathe- 
line's pentecostal letter to hi 01,314, 31 5; 
his brief to the Catholic world, 315 ; 
instructions to Fra Raimondo, 316, 
317 ; relations with Italian communes, 
320-323 ; appeals to Louis of Hungary, 
3 2 4, 325 ; Catherine's last letters to 



him, 330, 331 ; she reconciles him 

with the Romans, 332, 352 ; her 
prayers for him, 383 ; crowns Charles 
of Durazzo, 395 ; his nepotism and 
cruelty, 396, 397 ; madness and death, 

397 
Usimbardi, Bartolo, 172 ; Catherine's 

letters to him, 326, 417, 418 
— , Orsa, I72,4i7t4"3 
U«ano (da), Antonio, 327 



Vadaterra (da), Alfonso, the " hermit- 
bishop," confessor to Birgitta, 77,78/*., 
102-105 J papal emissary to Cathe- 
rine, 128, 129, 146; testimony con- 
cerning the Schism, 252, 257, 259, 
260, 267, 272 ; befriends Tora Gam- 
bacorti, 287 ; his death, 395 n* 

Valentinois, Countess of, 183, 184 

Varano, Rodolfo, 65, 189, 221, 224 

Venice, Doge of (Andrea Contarini), 
191 

Vergne (de), Pierre, Cardinal, 255, 266, 
268 

Vico (di), Francesco, Prefect of Rome, 
151, 199, 221, 280, 289, 330, 331 

, Francesco Moricotti, Archbishop 

of Pisa, 129, 148 ; Cardinal, 286 

, Giovanni, Prefect of Rome, 40, 

74 

Vigne (delle), Luigi, 199 n. 

, Raimondo, his Legended viii ; his 

translation of the Dialogo^ xv ; cited, 
6-15, 17, 19-22, 25, 26, 47-52* to» 
82-84, ?■» 98, 99 ; becomes Cathe- 
rine^ director and disciple, 122-126; 
at Pisa and Gorgona, 129, 130, 132^ 
136, 138 ; goes to Hawkwood's com- 
pany, 144, 145; 146, 151 ; goes to 
Avignon, 161-163 ; Catherine's letters 
to him there, 164-168 ; her " Giovan- 
ni, 11 165 w, ; interprets between her 
and the Pope, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 
193 ; at Toulon, 195 ; accompanies 
Catherine into the contado, 213-215 ; 
accused of plotting, 213-21 5 ; prior of 
the Minerva, 218; in bad odour at 
Rome, 224 j Catherine's letter to him 
on the subject, 225, 226 ; consulted by 
Niccold Soderini, 228 ; 229, 231, 234, 
236 ; Catherine's letter to him from 
Florence, 240, 241 ; quoted, 241-243, 
250 ; friendship with Pedro de Luna, 
257 ; 287, 288 ; opposes the sending 
of the two Catherines to Naples, 290 ; 
his first mission to France, 291-293 ; 
his second abortive mission, 316-318; 



439 



INDEX 



Catherine's letter to him, 318-320, 
329 *. ; her last letters to him, 333- 
343 ; on her writing and Dialogo, 353, 
354, 361 ; her letters to him, 355, 370, 
371, 374, 378-381 ; his reforming work 
as master-general of the Dominicans, 
386-388 ; letter to Giovanni Domi- 
nici, 388, 389 ; his death, 389 
Villani, Giovanni, 3, 4, 36 

, Matteo, 4, 5, 37, 38, 39, 4* 

Vincenti, Francesco, colleague of Gio- 
vanni Colombini, 42, 43, 44, 62-65 

, Giovanni, 204 

Visconti, Beatrice della Scala, 31, 115; 
Catherine's letter to her, 1 17 

, Bernabo, 30, 31, 41, 61, 62, 74, 

105 ; sends an agent to Catherine, 
114, 115 ; her answer, 115, 116; 118, 
127 ; allies with the Florentines, 143, 
145, 149, 155, 160, 179, 190; presides 



over co n g re ss of Sarzana, 229, 232 ; 

Catherine's letters to him, 372 *. 

, Galeano, 30, 114, 145 

, Gian Galeazzo, afterwards first 

Duke of Milan, 155, 280, 391, 392 

, Giovanni, Archbishop of Milan, 30 

, Luchino, 30 

, Marco, 117 

, Matteo, 30 

Viterbo, Bishop Niccolfc of, his testi- 
mony concerning the Schism, 261 »., 

269 «., 273*. 
Viviers, Cardinal of. See Sortenac 
Voulte (de la), Guillaume, Bishop of 

Marseilles, afterwards of Valence, 261, 

262,264,291, 293 n. 

Wbncsslaus, King of the Romans and 

Bohemia, 280, 300, 316, 317 
Wertinger, Conrad, 145, 160 



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